The title of the show Diffraction refers to the physical phenomenon of wave diffraction, or the changes in the direction of wave dispersion as it meets an obstruction; in effect, the wave refracts at a different angle. Diffraction can be seen in the form of light (e.g. white light separates into different colours), sound or X-ray dispersion. In the show light permeates dancers’ bodies. It attacks, obscures, appropriates, only to leave them on their own a moment later. Light joins solo parts together (the point of departure were six solos composed by Cindy van Acker within two years before the premiere) and a moment later splits them again, gives them cohesion and distorts. It takes on various forms, e.g. of shining bars or neon signs, a big eye gazing at the audience. The dancers control it only to succumb to its energy a moment later. The artist is not only interested in gesture and body on stage, but rather the whole stage perceived as a picture. Light is a partner for dialogue for the dancers but it remains distinct at the same time. It becomes an independent character in the show, able to hypnotize the audience with its potency to create the world.
CINDY VAN ACKER is a dancer and choreographer. She got classical (ballet) education. She danced in the Flanders Royal Ballet in Belgium and afterwards in Geneva’s Grand Theatre in Switzerland. However, she is predominantly interested in the experimental aspect of contemporary dance. To date, she cooperates with Philippe Sair, Laura Tanner, Noemi Lapzeson, Estelle Héritier, Myrian Gourfink. She has been creating her own choreography since 1994. She obtained particular recognition with her show Corps 00:00, premiered in 2002 at the ADC in Geneva. Cindy van Acker cooperated with Romeo Castellucci on the show Inferno, which is the first part of the triptych Divine Comedy based on Dante Alighieri’s poem, whose premiere took place in 2008 in Avignon, and on Richard Wagner’s opera Parsifal in La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels.