Treffen junge Szene
Dance
Fatigateau
Junior Company Bonn – They Might Be Giants
Co-production of the CocoonDance Company and Theater im Ballsaal Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia
Ensemble Fatigateau © Michael Maurissens
Faster, higher, further. This is how many young people perceive the world today, accompanied by a fear of no longer being able to keep up with its relentless pace and mounting demands. In “Fatigateau”, their tenth overall and the first piece developed entirely on their own, the Junior Company Bonn explores the complex dimensions of exhaustion.
According to the dancers themselves, the work is rooted in the feeling of racing through life like robots, constantly expected to function, with too little time for oneself or others and all this while trying to live up to the image of a young, dynamic, ever-optimistic generation. At the same time, they see it as a gift to be able to express this state of fatigue on stage: to be fully present in the moment, to lose themselves in dance, to be themselves and to be carried at any time by the strength of the group.
“Fatigateau” is an open and creative engagement with an apparent contradiction: solitary exhaustion (“fatigue”) and the lightness that can emerge from shared experience, like a cake (“gâteau”) that is best when shared with others.
Since its founding in 2013, the Junior Company Bonn has become a space of possibility for young people aged eight to 22. With each project, their skills and potential have grown. More importantly, the dancers have embraced dance as a way of life, a space where freedom and self-confidence can be discovered and shaped. At the heart of their long-standing partnership with the professional CocoonDance Company lies the artistic process itself, which – beyond any pedagogical goals – opens essential spaces for creative autonomy.
Jury Statement by Silke Gerhardt
As we enter the theatre, we are greeted by vibrating bass lines. Again and again, a voice from the speakers commands: “Work it!”—like a mantra of our performance-driven society. We are free to choose a seat on any of the four sides of the stage—the traditional stage setup has been dissolved. The dancers are already moving through the space with energy—at times individually, at times echoing each other’s patterns. They create an atmosphere of urgency and hectic motion, reminiscent of a machine room.
From the outset, the clarity of the choreographic language is striking. The ensemble plays with rhythm and repetition: bodies tremble, twitch, collapse, and rise again. Movements begin to feel ingrained—there is a sense of enduring something. It quickly becomes clear: this is not simply a dance piece. It tells a story—of fatigue, of the pressure to perform, of bodies pushing on despite nearing the edge of exhaustion.
The dancers’ movement vocabulary feels authentic—evidence that they have gone in search of their own bodily expressions. Moments of collective support, in which they catch, carry, or pull one another along, alternate with scenes of almost painful solitude. These kaleidoscopic images reflect their perspectives on themes such as fatigue, performance pressure, and the longing to slow down—with an urgency that is palpable.
The members of the Junior Company Bonn bring years of experience in developing dance pieces—yet much about this production was new. Their first attempt to create a piece entirely on their own, through a collective creative process, has succeeded in an impressive and moving way. One can sense that the performers engaged not only physically but intellectually and emotionally with the phenomenon of exhaustion—something that resonates deeply across generations.
With “Fatigateau”, the group has achieved a compelling interplay of dance, space, and sound—a performance that both challenges and touches its audience. This is not a piece that dances about exhaustion—it dances with it.
Thank you for your courage in facing such an important topic with such vulnerability and depth.
With
Lene Victoria Burgardt, Lilith Chiriac, Anna-Naomi Kirchhoff, Emilia Klinz, Lola Kornbrust, Nelli Kornbrust, Clara Krueger, Marie Krüger, Emilia Lichte, Mina Locke, Maris Pauka, Nima Robin Saffarian, Ella Schwarzer, Anna Wehmschulte
Lola Kornbrust, Emilia Lichte, Maris Pauka, Robin Nima Saffarian – choreography, concept
Marcus Bomski, Fa-Hsuan Chen, Rafaële Giovanola, Ada Sternberg – artistic and choreographic advice
Szymon Wojcik – music
Lilith Chiriac, Fa-Hsuan Chen – costume
Milon Pauka, Jan Wiesbrock – lighting and interior design
Rainald Endraß – dramaturgical advice