Cold Blood

Cold Blood description

Theatre, dance, cinema, comedy, drama, illusion; this show bursts triumphantly out of artform pigeonholes creating a hybrid performance experience that’s entirely unique. Belgian choreographer Michèle Anne De Mey and her film-maker partner Jaco Van Dormael have whimsically dubbed their unique art form “Nano-Dance”. That’s because it evolved on their kitchen table and the principal ‘dancers’ use only their fingers, hands and forearms.

It’s a tale of seven “stupid deaths”, each tragi-comic and unexpected, with expirations caused by the likes of a swallowed bra clasp, a carwash mishap and a pre-prepared packet of mashed potato. Filmed live on superbly lit, exquisitely detailed miniature sets and projected to spectacular wide-screen scale, moments of heart-stopping beauty, wit and exhilarating craftsmanship are backed by a captivating unfolding narrative from a short story by Thomas Gunzig.

Magnificent set-pieces (a Fred and Ginger tap routine on thimbles, a Busby Berkeley synchronised swimming extravaganza, a pole dancing club, a Kubrick inspired space station sequence) are interspersed with magically conjured mini cinematic marvels as the fingers drive cars on lonely foggy roads or through war-ravaged cityscapes.

It’s laugh-out-loud one minute and unexpectedly poignant the next as the magnified hands intertwine and caress, embrace and depart to a soundtrack that ranges from Doris Day and Nina Simone to Ligeti and Schubert. Lauded with five star reviews across the globe, it’s silly, serious, magical and like nothing you’ve ever seen.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Almost impossible to describe in any way that does it justice… Cold Blood never falls short of stunning.

The Scotsman

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ There are moments of heart-stopping beauty... that curious, communal quality of live theatre at its best. 

The Stage

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Moving, funny, imaginative and simply beautiful. 

EdFest Magazine

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Credits

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A show by Michèle Anne De Mey, Jaco Van Dormael and Kiss & Cry Collective

Directors Jaco Van Dormael, Michèle Anne De Mey
Choreographers Michèle Anne De Mey, Grégory Grosjein
Texts Thomas Gunzig
Cinematographers Jaco Van Dormael, Julien Lambert 

Image Julien Lambert

Partners

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