Dance / Language no Problem

28-05 t/m 28-05

Arjuna Vermeulen

Paradigm

What if love and hate aren’t opposites, but manifestations of the same force? What if one is merely the shadow of the other? That is what Paradigm explores in a deeply physical way. Dancers Shailesh Bahoran, Patrick Karijowidjojo and Keshaw Manna move their bodies in an endless exchange of pushing and pulling, breaking and repairing. Using hip-hop and breakin’ as their language—raw, rhythmic, and expressive—they engage in a conversation where words are unnecessary.

A paradigm is a framework through which we understand the world. But what happens when that framework begins to shift? Perception tilts in the glow of moving lines and the pulsating sounds of breath, rhythm, and silence. Hate and love are no longer opposites but shades within a single fluid motion. Isn’t this the essence of being human? The constant struggle between attraction and repulsion, fear and surrender? Where we expect contradiction, symbiosis emerges. Where we search for boundaries, we find space. Paradigm offers no conclusion—only an invitation: to look, recognize, and shift along with it.

Arjuna Vermeulen is a theater maker with roots in hip-hop culture. With a background as a breaker, host, performer, and community builder, he uses physical expression to make abstract, societal, and emotional themes tangible. Breakin’ forms the core of his movement language, allowing him to play with contrast and duality, leaving room for depth and interpretation. Scenography, light, and sound act as active dramaturgical elements, adding meaning and deepening the experience. “I don’t want the audience to just watch—I want them to feel: the energy, the confrontation, the movement between harmony and struggle.”