In a world where chaos presses in, Quasar blazes—a dance forged from sleepless nights and relentless sacrifice, where every movement defies the forces that would consume us.

Witness Quasar, a visceral dance and physical theatre performances by Mute Comp., where bodies fuse raw power and beauty into a spectacle of pure fire. Here, the body doesn’t merely perform; it speaks in the language of ache, of muscles torn and reformed, tracing movements that are both brilliant and bruised—a testament to survival as resistance. Each step confronts the void, pulls meaning from the shadows, reminding us that in a world built to consume, we choose to create, to radiate. Quasar reveals that the fire within us, however battered, remains unyielding—a small universe of defiance, burning through each movement. This is not just dance; it is an offering, an insistence on staying alive in the face of darkness.

CONCEPT:

Quasar is the conceptual, ritual framework for an ongoing dialogue between changing dancers of diverse individual, cultural and stylistic backgrounds. A fusing point for exploration of the core premise against an ever-changing international backdrop, Quasar is always and always never the same.

On this Kasper writes:

“On a quest for my own origins, I have often pondered how the world might have appeared through the eyes of the people from whom I descend, far back in ancient times.

Many years ago, my then wife Louise and I stumbled upon a small village church near Yaxuná, deep in the eastern Mexican jungle. There, we witnessed an old woman sitting on the church floor to pray. She lit four colored candles and prayed aloud before decapitating a hen, causing the blood to splatter across the church’s mosaic tiles and extinguishing the candles. It was as if I was looking directly into humanity’s earliest times, an echo from the Ice Age and the sacrificial bog, into all the blood sacrifices of history. Even as peoples mix and languages are forgotten, the ritual survives its’ teachings endlessly repeated and varied. As I write this on my computer, I use the same bones that stretched the bat’s wings and supported the badger’s paws. Even animals have rituals. In our skeletons, we carry a structure shaped by nature and the universe, which also taught us – to dance. My ancestors also sweated. They sweated in toil and in dance, around the fire on the African steppes, in the footsteps of Frau Troffea’s danse macabre and at the court of the Sun King; Bharatanatyam, Salpuri, and modern raves.

Is there a shared ritual in my DNA? A shared memory of a primal dance – just as in all our lineages there exists a human thought that believes it can comprehend the universe?

Quasar is a tribute to dance for the sake of dance, to acrobatic facility, to the body, and to life, allowing natural conflicts to sharpen the dancers’ expressions in their struggle with gravity, space, and time.

The pieces are all dedicated to the Swedish choreographer Per Johnson and his last work: Rivers of Mercury. Per Johnson committed suicide on the premiere night of December 2, 1998. Rivers of Mercury remains one of the most important works I have seen, felt, and experienced to date. When Louise danced it, I remember finding bloodstains throughout the house every day because her feet never had time to heal between rehearsals and performances. Our apartment was like the Mexican church’s blood sacrifices, marked in Per Johnson’s footsteps.”

QUASAR – FOR FIVE DANCERS:

1.“Quasar”: This work is a ritual, a collective dance created for four dancers of absolute world-class caliber. It is a collaboration between me and the world-renowned  South Korean choreographer Namjin Kim, who has worked for many years with Cidi Larbi, is also involved. “Quasar” is a tribute to dance for the sake of dance, to virtuosity, to the body, and to life and Nature.
The production is based in South Korea and will be performed at the Busan Culture Theatre and the Daegu International Dance Festival.

Direction: Kasper Ravnhøj, Namjin Kim

Dancers: Park Young Sung, Lee Jun Seok, Lee Sang-Hun,  Yu So-Ryun, Margherita Pascariello and Timothée Aina Meiffren.

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QUSAR -TRIO

A version of the Quasar concept  created for three dancers, aiming for constant transformation and a delicate balance between flow and conflict. It explores the essence of each dancer’s physical language, embracing their unique risks and sensitivities.

Created by: Mute Comp.Physical Theatre /Klaus Hildebrandt Frederiksen, Kiss Lavin and Kasper Ravnhøj

Dancers: Johanna Tangen, Margherita Pascariello and Kasper Ravnhøj.

Music: Buzor Nemic.

Dramaturg: Klaus HildeBrandt Frederiksen

Visuels/Costumes/ Music/ Sparring:Kiss Lavin
PR: Ghost Prodution

Choreographic Sparring: Louise Hyun Dahl

Co-Prodution: Turning-Tables.

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QUASAR – SOLO

This solo performance is a unique , physically acrobatic, and musical experience drawing on Kasper Ravnhøjs last 25 years as a dancer, performer, and prominent figure on the experimental Danish performing arts free scene in a highly personal and intimate exploration of the core themes and inspirations that sparked the fire of the QUASAR concept.

The solo insists on the fire that burns in every movement: not just a dance, but a sacrifice; an insistence on life and the moment confronting emptiness, drawing meaning from the shadow and reminding us that in a universe created to consume, we choose to create, to shine.

Created by: Mute Comp.Physical Theatre /Klaus Hildebrandt Frederiksen, Kiss Lavin and Kasper Ravnhøj

Dancer: Kasper Ravnhøj.

Music: Buzor Nemic.

Dramaturg: Klaus HildeBrandt Frederiksen

Visuels/Costumes/ Music/ Sparring:Kiss Lavin
PR: Ghost Prodution

Choreographic Sparring: Louise Hyun Dahl

Co-Prodution: Teater V.