GRIP | Jan Martens
THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER 2.0
THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER by Jan Martens has become a landmark work in contemporary dance. In 2014, it marked his international breakthrough. The performance toured extensively and was met with great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. In 2025, the work returns in a recreation by Jan Martens and GRIP, featuring a new cast. Writing in NRC, Francine van der Wiel described it as “already a classic after eleven years”.
The inspiration comes in part from photographer Philippe Halsman, who believed that people reveal their true selves when they jump. This idea forms the basis of the choreography. Eight dancers perform a complex and tightly structured sequence of movements. The patterns are precise and endlessly repeated. The pace is high and places enormous demands on the body.
The dancers strive for perfection, but eventually become exhausted. Mistakes begin to appear. In those moments, the mask falls away and the person behind the dancer becomes visible. This gives the performance a direct and honest quality. You are not only watching movement, but also vulnerability. Subtle changes in light and sound continually alter the way you perceive what is happening on stage.
Through its radical form, the work also raises questions. Ten years after its premiere, these questions remain just as relevant. What do you see as an audience when dancers are pushed to their limits? Where is the boundary between art and entertainment? And what does that reveal about the way we look?
In 2014, the performance was selected for Het Theaterfestival as one of the year’s most remarkable productions. The jury wrote: “The performance has the intensity of a breathtaking trip, supported by skilful dramaturgy and an outstanding lighting design. (…) After his more intimate duets, he now opts for mathematical dance patterns that put the dancers through an ordeal. Watching that ordeal is an ordeal in itself. But it also brings insight. The insight that we rush through life at a senseless speed.”
THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER is a physical and rhythmic performance. You experience the repetition, tension and exhaustion from up close. It is a work that makes you feel as well as think.
