The Weight of a Hand

THE PERFORMANCE

CONCEPTION
Wim Vandekeybus & Thierry De Mey

DIRECTION
Wim Vandekeybus

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Thierry De Mey & Peter Vermeersch

MUSICAL DIRECTION
Georges-Elie Octors

ARTISTIC ASSISTANCE
Octavio Iturbe

CHOROGRAPHICAL ASSISTANCE
Eduardo Torroja

PHYSICAL TRAINING
Muriel Hérault, Avi Kaiser

DANCERS / ACTORS
Assumpta Arques Surinach, Jabi Bustamante, Charo Calvo, Nicolas Julian Crow, Vincent Dunoyer, Muriel Hérault, Peter Kern, Nathalie Locatelli, Shannon Mc Murchy, Lieve Meeussen, Maria Gracia Noce, Branko Potocan, Simone Sandroni, Eduardo Torroja, Wim Vandekeybus

MUSICIANS
Géry Cambier, Thierry De Mey, Dirk Descheemaeker, Jean-Paul Dessy, Jean-Luc Fafchamps, Vincent Jacquemin, Frédéric Lecomte, Georges-Elie Octors, Jean-Luc Plouvier, Eric Sleichim, Georges Alexander Van Dam, Peter Vermeersch

LIGHT CREATION
Octavio Iturbe, Pascal Joris, Frank Lombaers

TECHNICAL DIRECTION
Frank Lombaers – Pro Scenium

STAGE MANAGEMENT & LIGHT
Pascal Joris

SOUND
Daniel Léon

SOUND INSTALLATION
C.A.T.S. sa Belgium

CONCEPTION DÉCOR
Xavier Looze & Yvon Van Lancker

CONSTRUCTION DÉCOR
Atelier Michel Mandoux & Xavier Looze

BACK DROP
Johan Daenen

COSTUMES
Isabelle Lhoas

ASSISTANCE
Pierre Ledent, Denis Bernard, Stéphane Chandelon, Laurent Taquin

PRODUCTION
Ultima Vez & Addison De Wit

COPRODUCTION
Théâtre de la Ville, Paris; deSingel, Antwerp; Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona

WITH THE SUPPORT OF
the Minister of the Flemish Government & ‘Ensor te Parijs'; the Flemish Theatre Institute; SZENE Salzburg

ULTIMA VEZ THANKS
‘Blanches et Noires' rehearsal studio, Nadia Croquet, Bob Elsen, Jürgen Höffer, Mr & Mrs Van Meerbeek, Dirk Meylaerts, Marie-Françoise Plissart, Eric Sleichim for wind instrument advice, Théâtre de la Balsamine, Robert Verstraeten

THE MUSIC

HANDS BY
Thierry De Mey

STONES BY
Peter Vermeersch

ICE, CHAÎNE, MUSIQUE DE TABLES, FRISKING BY
Thierry De Mey

POSES BY
Thierry De Mey, orchestration by Peter Vermeersch & Thierry De Mey

FINAL BY
Thierry De Mey & Peter Vermeersch

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS CONCEIVED BY
Thierry De Mey

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS CONSTRUCTED BY
Thierry De Mey & Pierre Ledent

Twenty-four artists on stage took up the challenge of the harmonious and powerful integration of musical instruments with the theatrical gesture. Not a collage, nor a simple juxtaposition, but a geometrical progression of energy and emotion based on Wim Vandekeybus' first two performances, What the Body Does Not Remember (1987) and Les porteuses de mauvaises nouvelles (1989).

The Weight of a Hand was a landmark performance in Wim Vandekeybus' at the time still young career. After only two productions, Wim and Thierry De Mey expressed the wish to put dance and live music together on stage. For the purpose of this live performance, Thierry De Mey and Peter Vermeersch assembled the twelve musicians who later became known as Ictus.