Jan Martens on 'The dog days are over' at Romaeuropa Festival

Belgian choreographer Jan Martens (born 1984) presents 'The dog days are over' at the 2016 Romaeuropa Festival, his first creation that merges choreographic complexity with the conceptual, passionate, and political force of performance art. The piece centers on jumping, inspired by Philippe Halsman's 1950s photographs of people leaping, notably Marilyn Monroe. Martens explains that jumping makes the dancer's effort visible, stripping away artifice. The work also responds to cuts in cultural funding, questioning whether art must become entertainment to survive. Martens draws on the mathematical structures of Lucinda Childs and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, blending them with cabaret and popular culture. The title references Florence + The Machine's song, playing on the ambiguity of 'dog days'—in Belgium they are cherished, elsewhere they can be deadly. The choreography involves eight dancers in a precise geometric structure, with Martens calculating the number of jumps needed to transition between movement constellations. The piece challenges audiences to reflect on why they watch and whether they enjoy it.