THAUMAZEIN

On an innovative, massive and moving object resembling a spinning top six metres in diameter, two protagonists weave and intertwine their lives. An incongruous, tilted world where gravity is altered, in which a story unfolds between two bodies, tinged with humour and tenderness.

*Thaumazein* is a piece in which movement and sometimes acrobatic situations explore the relationship between two individuals. Driven by a desire to work together, she and he grapple with their clumsiness, their misunderstandings and their outbursts in an environment that throws them off balance.

The object’s myriad movements, over which neither of them has any control, act as obstacles that test their determination to come together. Each of their victories and each of their failures helps to shape the contours of a relationship that is both strong and fallible.

A duo brimming with mischief and virtuosity, reminding us that in a world spinning too fast, where everything can be turned on its head, a hand extended to another can help us stay on our feet.

For this new creation, Jonathan Guichard and Lauren Bolze explore a relationship with a world that they prefer to invent, and where any resemblance to our own would be entirely coincidental.

Thaumazein, from the Greek θαυμάζειν, is the sense of wonder that we do not wish to leave unanswered. It is the sensation we feel when faced with an unexpected, unusual situation – one that goes beyond mere surprise and stimulates our curiosity.