Dates / Schedules
Saturday, 19 September 2026 7:00pm
Sunday, 20 September 2026 5:00pm
Dance
Created by Jan Martens in 2014 and restaged in 2025 with a new cast, THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER has become one of the Belgian choreographer’s most iconic works, following an extensive international tour of more than one hundred performances. Inspired by photographer Philippe Halsman’s assertion that the act of jumping causes the social mask to fall away, revealing a person’s true identity, the piece uses the jump as both a choreographic and human device.
On stage, eight dancers take on a rigorous, mathematical, and intensely demanding choreography built around continuous sequences of jumps performed in apparent unison. Through repetition, exhaustion, and physical endurance, the performers strive to maintain precision and synchronisation, yet inevitably reveal vulnerability, effort, and individuality.
Through its radical form and the physical intensity it demands of its performers, the piece questions the relationship between art and entertainment, as well as the audience’s gaze upon the suffering and exposure of bodies on stage. More than a decade after its premiere, the question posed by Jan Martens remains as relevant as ever: to what extent does the spectator consume physical exertion as spectacle?
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Ages
+6
Data sheet
Choreography Jan Martens
Rehearsal Direction / Artistic Assistance Naomi Gibson
Artistic Assistance / Coaching Steven Michel and Piet Defrancq
Performers 8 of the following dancers: Pierre Bastin, Camilla Bundel, Jim Buskens, Zoë Chungong, Simon Lelièvre, Florence Lenon, Elisha Mercelina, Dan Mussett, Pierre Adrien Touret, Zora Westbroek, Maisie Woodford and Paolo Yao
Original Cast Piet Defrancq, Naomi Gibson, Nelle Hens, Julien Josse, Kimmy Ligtvoet, Cherish Menzo, Steven Michel, Laura Vanborm and/or Morgane Ribbens, Ilse Ghekiere, Victor Dumont, Connor Schumacher, Caspar Knops, Amerigo Delli Bove and Daniel Barkan
Dramaturgy Renée Copraij
Lighting Design Jan Fedinger
Costumes (2025) Sofie Durnez
Touring Technicians Michel Spang, Elke Verachtert and Nele Verreyken
Graphic Design Nick Mattan
Graphic Design Intern Joëlle Desmet
Physiotherapy and Osteopathy Fourward Gent, Inge Haeyaert and Lode Verreyen
Production GRIP (Francisca Alves, Hanne Doms, Anneleen Hermans, Rudi Meulemans, Klaartje Oerlemans, Jennifer Piasecki, Sylvie Svanberg, Nele Verreyken and Kato Wilms)
International Distribution A propic (Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent)
Partners (2023–2027) La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand SN, Maison de la danse / Pôle européen de création, with the support of the Biennale de Lyon
Co-production (2014) Frascati Producties, SPRING Performing Arts Festival, DansBrabant, La Briqueterie CDC du Val-de-Marne, tanzhaus nrw and TAKT Dommelhof
Co-production (2025) Rotterdam, DE SINGEL, Le Carreau – Scène nationale de Forbach et de l’Est Mosellan and Perpodium
With the financial support of (2014) The Government of Flanders and Performing Arts Fund NL
With the financial support of (2025) The Flemish Government and Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest, bpost Star4U Fund
With the support of (2014) workspacebrussels and wpZimmer
Acknowledgements (2014) Dansateliers, Conny Janssen Danst, JAN and ICKamsterdam
Acknowledgements (2025) Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and c o r s o
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Discounts
DISCOUNTS are only valid for CCB production and/or co-production shows and for tickets with a price above €12, with the exception of CCB cardholders, the discount is applied to values above €8.
50 % people with specific needs and free for accompanying person
50% for Arts and culture professionals
50% for unemployed
30% for CCB Card’s holders (individual, Senior, Youth and Family)
20% for people over 65 / for under 30s / students / for groups of more than 20 people
Tickets at €5 for Artistic Schools
Partners
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