Mooni Van Tichel - STILL / ALIVE

Four dancers move in stop-motion to a fixed beat. Like immortal superheroes, they endlessly engage in a cycle of attacking, defending, wiping sweat, and reloading. Seemingly effortlessly, they continue to build their imagined super-bodies and super-narratives. Yet, slowly, small cracks begin to appear in their grand gestures. Are they ready to change the world? Or are they themselves trapped in a system with no way out?

In her first group performance, Mooni Van Tichel raises questions about desire, violence, power, glory, pain, and vulnerability. Who has the right to defend themselves? Who can be violent without repercussions? And what violence is made (in)visible? Inspired by virtuosic bodies, science fiction, and the literature of Octavia Butler and Elsa Dorlin, the choreographer explores utopian and dystopian worldviews for our future.

Concept & creation: Mooni Van Tichel – Performance: Costa Tombroff, Eli Mathieu Bustos, Manon Kanjinga Janssen, Mooni Van Tichel – Artistic assistant: Antoine Dupuy Larbre – Lighting design: Niels Runderkamp – Costume design: Stefan Kartchev – Sound design: Gizem Karaosmanoğlu – Technique: Christophe Deprez – Production management: Riet Meeus – Production: workspacebrussels (Brussels) – Coproduction: Kunstencentrum BUDA (Courtrai), KAAP (Bruges/Ostend), workspacebrussels (Brussels) – Residencies: A Two Dogs Company (Brussels), CAMPO (Ghent), c o r s o (Berchem), KAAP (Bruges), Kunstencentrum BUDA (Courtrai), STUK (Leuven), workspacebrussels (Brussels) – Supported by: the Flemish Community

Mooni Van Tichel has a background in hip-hop, house, and breaking. In 2021, she earned a master's degree in contemporary dance from P.A.R.T.S. Her graduation solo, Deep Nyx, was presented at Festival Cement, Amsterdam Fringe Festival, and Moving Futures Festival. In 2022, she created a solo for Ne Mosquito Pas and short performances for the DANSAND! festival in Oostende, Deweer Gallery in Zwevegem, and S.M.A.K. in Ghent. Additionally, she is a member of the collective leprojetgeo, which organizes activities with residents of the Bellevue nursing home in Forest focusing on physical connection, touch, and dance. She has worked as a performer with Nathan Ooms, Stanley Ollivier, Olivier Dubois, and Kris Verdonck, and as an outside eye and choreographic assistant with Antoine Dupuy Larbre and Marthe Koning. Since 2023, Mooni Van Tichel is a house artist at workspacebrussels within a three-year development program.