The History of my Stiffness

Wunderbaum

The History of my Stiffness is a performance about the Dutch inability to move supplely, and investigates whether your cultural background determines how you move. Is it our descent, the cold, or our ingrained Protestantism with its question of guilt, which causes us to be so rigid? Is it Kniertje, Bint, the freezing cold or for instance the Dutch Reformed Church that influences our movements? Why do Brazilian people move so much more smoothly than we ‘kaaskoppen’ (cheese heads, as the Belgians call us)? Is this caused by the environment in which they grow up? Or by the tropical forests or their melodious round language? The Netherlands are parcelled out; maybe our bodies are ‘cheesed out’? The question arises, however, whether every attempt we make to detach ourselves from our descent by going to yoga, tango and salsa classes, is actually a denial of who we really are. Shouldn’t we simply accept our stiffness? Or is it simply a yoke that we have to cast?

From Fusebox If there was a Fusebox Hall of Legends, Wunderbaum would have a prominent place. Their past two trips to Fusebox have created a cult-like following and years later their work is still discussed and joyously re-lived. This Netherlands-based company make unforgettable performances that dive head first into a broad range of questions (ranging from big, to small, to complex, to outlandish, to whimsical). And they do it all with their very unique, Wunderbaum sense of humor. Ultimately, their work artfully complicates our understanding of reality as it floats between fact and fiction and back again, always inching us toward a new way of understanding the world.

The Fusebox Festival Hub is made possible with the support of Native Hostel