Cacti

Photo: Rahi Rezvani

Choreographer: Alexander Ekman

Over ten years ago, choreographer Alexander Ekman decided to solely create works that offer a great amount of humor, as well as a critical note. With 'Cacti' Ekman amusingly challenges the audience to reflect on modern dance as a higher art form. Sixteen dancers stand, seemingly trapped, on oversized Scrabble tiles. They run, fall, writhe, and try to escape their invisible prisons. Eventually they each acquire a cactus. But what does it all mean? ‘Cacti’ is a gleeful parody of the art form’s greater excesses. A string quartet performs the music by Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and
Franz Schubert live on stage, while the dancers become the instruments of the orchestra, resulting in a rhythmical ensemble.
In 2010 ‘Cacti’ was nominated for a Swan Award for ‘most impressive dance production’.