Does work set us free, or does it chain us? For far too many people, between being bored to death or burnt out, it’s the latter, and the very concept of labour for survival brings to mind questions about absurd routines and the complex relationship colleagues have with each other, from resemblance and dissemblance, domination and submission, superficiality and depth.

From Belgian dance company Dame de Pic then comes SAME SAME, a dance work that examines precisely this phenomena in a frenetic, absurd version of the office filled with non-sense and the abnormal. Fun or nightmarish? That’s the fine line that the work promises to toe when it makes its Singapore premiere at the Esplanade Theatre Studio in a few weeks.

Speaking to Dame de Pic Artistic Director Karine Ponties and choreographer of SAME SAME, we found out more about the creation process, as well as the work that goes into her artistry. “The work came about because myself, Czech creative dancer Tereza Ondrová and theatre director Petra Tejnorová wanted to do a project together, and we wanted to figure out what exactly we could do,” says Karine. “It was from this initial desire, and watching Buster Keaton films that we had the idea to do something that focused on exaggerated, comic movement.”

“So what Keaton espouses is this idea that everything else is so much bigger than he is, and he’s in this constant state of having to fight against all these elements around him,” she adds. “I thought about how to bring together all these different ideas, the masculine and feminine, the absurdity of the workplace, and how to amp it all up to physical extremes.”

Karine is an artist known for creating work with precise, chiseled movements, mixed with moments of humour and monstrosity, something only possible from her ability to bring out the best in her performers. “Tereza is a ‘super dancer’, and Petra is more experimental, and in the process of creating and choreographing, we had to really think about their differences and similarities and accept the little imperfections that show up over the course of creation,” says Karine. “In every work I do, I tend to go through over 100 hours of improvisations for hours at a time to figure out the best movements we can put into the work, and to completely free the body. It’s about finding that balance of intent and what is possible to execute, and then smoothing it out with details.”

“There’s a lot of mixing of ideas during our sharing sessions, where we each propose themes and objects to include in the show, and experiment with them to see what we can do. Petra is particularly good at this, because she’s so willing to try it all out, and try to find how the most unexpected objects can end up touching or moving and speaking to us,” she continues. “In doing all this, we end up recognising how absurd some of our day-to-day actions are, because of the change in perspective, and then we seek to take those to their most logical extremes to push the work even further.”

SAME SAME promises to showcase the absurdity of the world we live in, and invites us to take a step back, and find the joy and energy in living again after experiencing burnout, where there is joy even in the mundane. “The world is crazy, and sometimes things pass by so fast. The idea of burnout exists everywhere, and you realise how you end up missing and losing time and attention, and start questioning why you’re doing things,” says Karine.

“We live in an absurd world, where life is tragedy. But if we keep a sense of humour, we can use play to cut through it, beyond the most superficial understanding of the world,” she continues. “You can’t take everything so seriously and have to learn to have fun. You create distance, realise things aren’t that deep sometimes, and that your life isn’t so bad at times compared to others, and recognise the absurdity of it all.”

In a festival whose programme focuses so much on shedding light on urgent social issues and marginalised concepts or communities, Karine shares what she feels we need to give more care to. “I think that people should care more about time and attention, where it often feels like we’ve lost our connection to the world around us,” Karine says. “That leads to more empathy, for after watching closely enough, you end up wanting to become involved in them, and your mindset and behaviour changes when you recognise all these different ways there are to exist and find our humanity again.”

“I chose this artist life because I wanted to live in a way that was different, to adopt a more radical way of being to see the details of everything around me and realise how extraordinary things can be,” she concludes. “I’m so lucky to be alive, to see both the beauty and ugliness in it all, and as an artist, I want to bring al these details to the fore to help others see them, to learn how to live by appreciating each moment.”

Photo Credit: Vojtěch Brtnický

SAME SAME plays from 20th to 21st January 2024 at the Esplanade Theatre Studio. Tickets available here

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024 runs from 17th to 28th January 2024 across various venues. Full line-up available here, with tickets available from BookMyShow