‘Open all pores to this gem. And above all, don’t forget to breathe.’ wrote the Nieuwsblad in 2014 about THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER. The reviews back then did not lie: this production marked the absolute breakthrough for Jan Martens, with an extensive international tour of more than 100 performances. In 2025, Jan Martens and GRIP are recreating this successful show with a new cast. 

The American photographer Philippe Halsman once said: “When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears.” With THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER Jan Martens took this statement as a starting point and exposed through the jump the person behind the dancer. 

In THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER, the dancer is defined as a pure performer, striving after perfection. Subjected to a complex, mathematical, vigorous and exhausting choreography executed in forced uniformity, the eight dancers ultimately slip up. And then their masks fall. 

Thanks to its radical choreographic form, THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER revealed the audience’s perception of dancers, choreographers, spectators and the cultural policy at the time. Ten years on, these questions are still very much relevant due to current political and social trends: Where does the thin line between art and entertainment lie? Who are we as an audience when we contemplate the suffering of dancers from the theatre like a bullfight in an arena? Is contemporary dance striptease for the elite? THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER makes the viewer shift in his position: from being merely subjected to the experience to actively reflecting on it. 

CREDITS
PREMIERE: 17 September 2025, Biennale de la Danse de Lyon (FR)

CHOREOGRAPHY: Jan Martens
REPETITOR / ARTISTIC ASSISTANCE: Naomi Gibson
ARTISTIC ASSISTANCE / COACHING: Steven Michel, Piet Defrancq
PERFORMERS: 8 out of these dancers: Pierre Bastin, Camilla Bundel, Jim Buskens, Zoë Chungong, Simon Lelièvre, Florence Lenon, Elisha Mercelina, Dan Mussett, Pierre Adrien Touret, Zora Westbroek, Maisie Woodford, Paolo Yao
ORIGINAL CAST: Piet Defrancq, Naomi Gibson, Nelle Hens, Julien Josse, Kimmy Ligtvoet, Cherish Menzo, Steven Michel, Laura Vanborm and/or en/of Morgane Ribbens, Ilse Ghekiere, Victor Dumont, Connor Schumacher, Caspar Knops, Amerigo Delli Bove, Daniel Barkan
DRAMATURGY: Renée Copraij
LIGHTING DESIGN: Jan Fedinger
COSTUME STYLING 2025: Sofie Durnez
TOUR TECHNICIANS: Michel Spang, Elke Verachtert, Nele Verreyken 

GRAPHIC DESIGN: Nick Mattan 

GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERNSHIP: Joëlle Desmet 

PHYSIOTHERAPY AND OSTEOPATHY: Fourward Gent, Inge Haeyaert, Lode Verreyen 

PRODUCTION: GRIP (Francisca Alves, Hanne Doms, Anneleen Hermans, Rudi Meulemans, Klaartje Oerlemans, Jennifer Piasecki, Sylvie Svanberg, Nele Verreyken)
INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION: A propic / Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent

PARTNERS 2023-2027: La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand SN, Maison de la danse/Pôle européen de création, en soutien à la Biennale de Lyon DOG DAYS 2014

COPRODUCTION: Frascati Producties, SPRING performing arts festival, DansBrabant, La Briqueterie CDC du Val-de-Marne, tanzhaus nrw and TAKT Dommelhof DOG DAYS 2025
COPRODUCTION: Theater Rotterdam, DE SINGEL , Le Carreau – Scène nationale de Forbach et de l’Est Mosellan, Perpodium DOG DAYS 2014
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: The Government of Flanders and Performing Arts Fund NL DOG DAYS 2025
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: The Flemish Government, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest, bpost’s Star4U fund DOG DAYS 2014
WITH THE SUPPORT OF: workspacebrussels en wpZimmer DOG DAYS 2014

THANKS TO: Dansateliers, Conny Janssen Danst, JAN en ICKamsterdam DOG DAYS 2025 THANKS TO: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, c o r s o 

WITH THE SUPPORT OF Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels 

PRESS REVIEW 2025

 

★★★★☆ “The Dog Days Are Over 2.0 loses none of its impact. The choreography, performed on a bare stage under the merciless light of two construction lights, is a killer performance: every mistake could be fatal. Choreographer Jan Martens does everything he can to confuse his dancers, but they remain masterfully on their feet.” Annette Embrechts, De Volkskrant, 25 September 2025 

“Ten years later, THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER hasn’t aged a day and still generates the same enthusiasm.” Delphine Baffour, La Terrasse, 20 September 2025 

★★★★★ “Martens’ minimalist and repetitive choreography is ingenious and evokes a deep sense of respect and engagement from the audience with the dancers. The Dog Days Are Over is already a classic after eleven years.” Francine van der Wiel, NRC, 25 September 2025 

“(…) Much more interesting – also exasperating and enlivening – is Belgian Jan Martens’ revival of his 2014 work The Dog Days Are Over. This is a determinedly downbeat chorus line – no high kicks, no showtime – and you either submit to its regime, as the dancers must, or you don’t.” Sanjoy Roy, The Guardian, 1 October 2025 

“The Dog Days are over 2.0 remains as intriguing, impactful, and astonishing as ever. To write that the choreographer makes his performers bounce around for 1 hour and 10 minutes is both factual and terribly reductive.” Amélie Bertrand, Danses avec la plume, 22 September 2025 

Photo by: Stephanie Nash