Review of 'Cancel Bertha - Carte Blanche', on Bora Bora in Denmark
14 Dancers Teach Me the Difference: I Love Iterations More
Review
6 ★ Kulturnyt
Ambiorn Happy, Kulturnyt.net
13. november 2025.
Review of 'Cancel Bertha - Carte Blanche' at Bora Bora: I love the grotesque performance that rolls imposingly back and forth across the floor between the tall walls of Bora Bora. It is like a gigantic Flemish wave of repetitions, created by the Belgian Jan Martens. Performed by 14 Norwegian dancers. In the middle of the stage floor, the image of a sleeping dog, 6 x 8 metres. The dancers are dressed in reflective costumes created by Indrani Balgobin, making them resemble athletic, shimmering figures in a sporty, futuristic universe. The dance performance is an experience worthy of 6 stars.
Photo: Øystein Haara
Huha, that was tough. You know, just because caviar is expensive and sought-after doesn’t necessarily make it my cup of tea. Privately you must understand, this reviewer never went to school, and he loves a good story. So, do you get it? Cancel Bertha is huge shovelfuls of caviar, and me with my mouth shut just dreaming of a hotdog, maybe a bit of cancan and striptease. Or the other way round. This review might taste a little like a vegan’s experience of a hotdog, or like a jigsaw puzzle box depicting a dumb man’s experience of an intellectual work. But I mean what I say. Hang on! By reading further, you have given consent. A woman in a reflective leotard enters the stage. She makes movements, rolls around on the floor, repeats poses, half dance steps, gets on all fours like a dog sticking its bum in the air. Do you understand? Then she repeats herself until a bearded man enters the stage. The man shows off his strong forearms. He has tattoos. Swings his arms around, drops to his knees, stands up. Repeats himself. A couple in reflective costumes enter the stage. The man strips naked except for a pair of reflective Speedo-style briefs. Together with the woman he makes movements in sync, drops to his knees, gets on all fours together like two dogs. And so it continues. Every time new dancers enter the stage, the others continue their repetitions. In the end it is a whole gaming machine filled with gears and glittering costumes that repeat themselves in a grand geometric choreography with a dash of mathematics. Repetitions. Repetitions. This is the picture of the dreadful life of repetition. At work. In yourself. In your legs when you walk, and in your arms when you eat. Life is a repetition. Repetition without iteration. There are two concepts for the state that 'Carte Blanche' portrays: Death without development, or simply a soulless robot. Is this what modern man has become? Soulless, or with a mechanical movement pattern that any AI robot today can already perform much better than the Norwegian dancers? Most of Europe – especially in Norway and Belgium – is thrilled with 'Cancel Bertha'. I understand the fascination with the complicated choreographies that weave the dancers’ movements together into huge swirling rivers of repetition. It is exactly reminiscent of workers picking cotton or packing goods from China into cardboard boxes all day long in a huge warehouse. The movements are empty, but efficient. The sound also contains repetitions. A woman sings “We have change of the moon” with guitar accompaniment. This line is repeated about 100 times. Then there is a metronome at 180 BPM that pounds my ear for about a quarter of an hour. And finally, when the repetitions are about to ebb away, a song about “When we get home from work”, maybe 80 times. Yes, I got a bit seasick from the repetitions. I love iterations, all people do. No one loves repetitions. So thank you for the experience, I love that Jan Martens makes us aware of the difference between repetition and iteration. The latter is fruitful, the former is barren. Stillborn already before the sun rises. Thanks to the 14 Norwegian dancers, Jan Martens, Carte Blanche, and to Bora Bora for inviting great European dance art to Aarhus. Now I need a hotdog. Cancel Bertha - Carte Blanche by Jan MartensPerhaps like a vegan’s experience of a hotdog. Watch out!
The dreadful picture of life’s repetitions
A swirling river of repetition – where is my life jacket?
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