OVERVIEW

Imagine dancers with tattoo-covered bodies moving through an ever-changing dreamscape. This is the world of Thin Skin, created by Marco Goecke in 2015 for Nederlands Dans Theater 1 (NDT 1).

Goecke’s distinctive movement language, with its sharp, angular gestures and sudden, restless bursts of energy, creates an unsettling atmosphere. At times, the dancers resemble praying mantises, their bodies twitching and darting with remarkable speed. Yet their movements also reveal something deeply human and fragile. “Sometimes people ask me what I can say about this work, whether it has a particular meaning. But it doesn't mean anything specific. It isn't a story. Although, in a way, every work is a little story about myself and the many people I work with,” says Goecke.

The tattoos on the dancers’ costumes were designed by Goecke himself. One even bears his name, Marco. “I wanted to be part of it too, inside and out,” he explains. “Perhaps tattoos are messages that come to the surface, just like dance, and perhaps they have something to do with what lies within. A tattoo is also a kind of noble slum. There is destruction in beauty, and pain in beauty.”

Thin Skin also pays tribute to punk rock icon and poet Patti Smith, whose music inspired the choreography. The soundtrack combines six of her songs with an excerpt from a live performance by pianist Keith Jarrett. Smith’s rhythmically intricate, at times almost breathless lyrics work alongside Goecke’s distinctive choreography to create a powerful experience, both visually and musically.

„Mind is a picture. And there in the corner is the hint of a spiral. Perhaps it is a virus; perhaps it is a spirit tattoo,” Patti Smith once said, describing her thoughts.