They look at us

Wondering why we are

Wondering how you and I

Became us

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Make Me Think Us is a duet between two performers in which they internalise the most outward layer of one's identity: clothing. Putting on different clothing items on the same body creates differences in one's being. An outfit changes your state and your presence. One can disappear by wearing the right outfit, the other can stand out. You can make clear that you are at your job or on your way to a fancy Christmas party. 

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Clothes get a target audience when fabricated​, some are made for kids, others for women, men, elderly... Within Make Me Think Us the performers create personae for different clothing items that do not necessarily stroke with what society would imprint on those clothes. 

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What is the meaning of clothing? A wardrobe is build on choices made by the wearer. How are those choices being made? By color, shape, size, brand, target audience...? The performers start playing with these choices. What happens when you wear something three sizes too small? What happens when when someone wears dress with combat boots or a pyjama with high heels? 

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Do clothes make the man? People judge someone based on their clothing and treat them accordingly. But on a deeper level this phrase can mean that by dressing in a certain manner one can actually shape their behaviour and affect the way they perform. 

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Gender also has a concrete effect on clothing, fashion has been divided in a very binary way: women's fashion and men's fashion. Steffi wants to shake this status quo on its head by using gender neutral clothes, or enforcing gendered clothing into a neutral and non-binary fashion. 

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Statework was a guiding tool throughout the creation proces of Make Me Think Us. Statework - inspired by the interpretations of performer Michel Yang - is a technique in which imagination, interpretation, theatricality and physicality become one. It looks into body posture and body language by specifying one's context, situation and substance. How does the persona that is created move? How does the persona interact with others? While using this technique in led improvisations, the performer gets a more complete picture of who or what this persona is. In Make Me Think Us statework was used to build a foundation for those different personae.

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The first part of the performance explores how clothes affect one's being and how it can - subtly - change your body language. In the second part the performers make an attempt to continue the evolution of their personae without the necessity of clothes.

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Make Me Think Us is an exploration of two individuals pushing the boundaries of clothing and an invitation to use your own outside layer to look into your deepest internal core. 

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CREDITS

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director

Steffi Mennen

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dance

Jacopo Buccino

Steffi Mennen

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created with

Jacopo Buccino

Kosta Bogoievski

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concept

Steffi Mennen

Pieter Desmet

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movement assistant

Machias Bosschaerts

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dramaturgy

Coco-Noemí Jiménez

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thanks to

Herman Van Drie

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with the support of

CC De Warandepoort

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residencies

_PLEK

Het Oude Badhuis

Campo Victoria

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photography

Jonathan De Maeyer

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Make Me Think Us is part of 

the online archive of Platform In De Maak

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DATES

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CC De Warandepoort

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Het Oude Badhuis

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De Kotroute

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De Kotroute

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Festival RUDI

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Festival RUDI

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BOM Festival

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BOM Festival

14.12.2019

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13.03.2020

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05.05.2020

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07.05.2020

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28.08.2020

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29.08.2020

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25.09.2020

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26.09.2020

Tervuren . Belgium ​

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Antwerp. Belgium ​

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Antwerp. Belgium ​

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Ghent. Belgium ​

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Ghent. Belgium ​

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Ghent. Belgium ​

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Ghent. Belgium ​

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Ghent. Belgium ​

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canceled Covid-19

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canceled Covid-19

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canceled Covid-19

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canceled Covid-19

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canceled Covid-19

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canceled Covid-19

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canceled Covid-19