In their new creation, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Martin Zimmermann use humour and charming empathy to explore transience, burning up – and their own artistic mortality. Having left the stage to others in their last productions, they now decide to take it again as a duo. Together, they have fun dismantling the myth of « Has Beens ». In a cycle that constantly generates something new, expiration dates first lose relevance, then their entire meaning.

This encounter between two stage giants brings together distinct creative worlds: Swiss choreographer and stage designer Martin Zimmermann significantly shaped the movement of contemporary circus. He crafts a wordless, visual universe designed to speak to everyone. In his flamboyant works, he blends contemporary circus with dance theatre, staging tragicomic bodies in battle with systems, theatrical machines, and absurd objects. Belgian-Moroccan artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui moves fluidly between institutions and the independent art scene. In addition to his role as artistic director of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, he creates work for his own company Eastman and for pop stars like Madonna and Beyoncé. Drawing on movement languages from various cultural contexts, Cherkaoui opens up a space for boundless creative growth. At the heart of his choreographies are fluid identities that either clash with norms that shape them or transcend them.

Zimmermann’s and Cherkaoui’s ideas now orbit each other in tight proximity – sometimes meeting in a kiss, sometimes colliding with a bang. It is a love affair of a strange kind: charged with contradiction, imbalance, and irony. A folie à deux defined by tipping points, tension, and a great deal of humor. The same dynamic plays out in the two shape-shifting figures they embody. She is the diva, the matriarch, the showgirl, the shaman. He is the butler, the janitor, perhaps her final devotee, and death itself. Both marked by time, they conjure a world where Swiss Dadaism meets Belgian Surrealism. The rules are bizarre, the bodies speak in unfamiliar tongues, and the emotions loom large. This is not something that can be imagined – it must be seen and experienced.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui about Martin Zimmermann:

« Working with Martin is an inspiring journey that’s allowing me to rediscover myself as a performer. His fearless approach to the tragicomic brings out a raw honesty that fuses our explorations of movement and emotion. My own practice is grounded in the physical, in gesture and embodiment. When combined with Martin’s tragicomic figures and vivid stage worlds, a dynamic synergy emerges. Together, we’re creating a space where humor and vulnerability intersect, where boundaries shift and real connection becomes possible. It’s a true honor to blend our worlds and see something deeply human take shape from the fusion of our two signatures. »

Martin Zimmermann à propos de Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui:

« I’ve followed Larbi’s career since the very beginning. We started creating our own productions around the same time, both of us very young. I was struck by the eclecticism of his work between theatre and dance, the choreographic signature he developed, and by his bold trajectory. Larbi has always pushed into uncomfortable spaces as a way to unlock creativity—and in that, I recognize something of myself. There’s something deeply shared between us which is why I feel incredibly at ease with him and understood in my work. And yet, our artistic languages are completely different. That’s what makes this collaboration so exciting: I’m truly looking forward to the friction it will generate and the richness of the creative exchange. »