7 Pleasures

They number 12, or maybe one, their naked bodies touching, connecting, exulting. Together, they are movement. A fascinating human tide surges forth alluringly in what looks like an everyday setting. The most basic pleasures assert their rightful place in 7 Pleasures by Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen, making her Canadian début. A delightful feast of the senses for an informed audience.

At a time when all sorts of promises of pleasure are on offer, are we masters of our bodies and our desires? With her dozen naked dancers forming improbable constellations, Ingvartsen questions our conditioning and assumptions about sexuality. In an undulating mass of organic matter, dancers pulsate to hypnotic percussion, convulsions, moaning and sensual play. Sexual but far from pornographic, the very lack of seduction is surprisingly subversive; this highly sensuous experience destabilizes. Its meticulously composed beauty elevates nudity to a grand mystery of life.

Produced by Mette Ingvartsen / Great Investment
Concept and choreography Mette Ingvartsen
Performed by  Johanna Chemnitz + Katja Dreyer + Bruno Freire + Elias Girod + Gemma Higginbotham (replacing Marie Ursin) + Dolores Hulan + Calixto Neto (replacing Ligia Lewis) + Danny Neyman + Norbert Pape + Pontus Pettersson + Manon Santkin (replacing Sirah Foighel Brutmann) + Hagar Tenenbaum
Lighting design Minna Tiikkainen
Music and soundtrack Peter Lenaerts
Orignal music Will Guthrie including Breaking Bones + Snake Eyes 
Set design Mette Ingvartsen + Minna Tikkainen
Dramaturgy Bojana Cvejić
Choreography Assistant Manon Santkin
Lighting design Assistant Nadja Räikkä
Technical directors Joachim Hupfer + Nadja Räikkä
Sound technician Adrien Gentizon
Manager Kerstin Schroth
Production Assistant Manon Haase

Co-produced by steirischer herbst festival (Graz) + Kaaitheater (Brussels) + HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin) + Théatre National de Bretagne (Rennes) + Festival d’Automne (Paris) + Les Spectacles vivants – Centre Pompidou (Paris) + PACT Zollverein (Essen) + Dansens Hus (Oslo) + Tanzquartier Wien + Kunstencentrum BUDA (Kortrijk) + BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen) + Dansehallerne (Copenhagen)
With the support of Flemish Authorities + Hauptstadtkulturfonds (Berlin) + Danish Arts Council
Research and residency supported by APAP through the support of Culture Programme of the European Union
Presented in association with Usine C

Written by Elsa Pépin
Translated by Neil Kroetsch

Premiered at steirischer herbst, Graz, on September 26, 2015