Jefta van Dinther: Mercury Rising
“Mercury Rising” stems from a phenomenological exploration of language. Created in collaboration with Dawn Jani Birley, Rita Mazza and Lukas Malkowski, and performed by them, the piece charts both ancient and future non-linear languages, navigating the tension between communication, gesture, agency and physicality.
‘Mercury Rising’ positions the body as a fleeting site of discourse – a place where meaning is created, dissolved and transformed through movement.
The work invites the audience to decipher a wealth of signs, whilst at the same time exploring the elusiveness of interpretation and ultimately freeing us from the need for literal or explanatory meanings. Incorporating various sign languages and designed for all audiences – including both deaf and hearing spectators – ‘Mercury Rising’ explores the complexity of human communication on the brink of a paradigm shift. What we ultimately share is not certainty – but the impossibility of complete understanding and the urge to forge a connection nonetheless.
Credits: Choreography: Jefta van Dinther
Creation and performance: Rita Mazza, Dawn Jani Birley, Lukas Malkowski
Costumes and set design: Cristina Nyffeler
Lighting design: Jonatan Winbo
Sound design: David Kiers
Backdrop: Gonçalo Sena
Dramaturgy: Gabriel Smeets
Artistic consultancy: Maja Zimmermann
Technical direction: Andrea Parolin and Fabian Bleisch
Lighting: Fabian Bleisch
Sound: Andrea Parolin
Management: Sven Neumann B
ooking: Sarah De Ganck, ART HAPPENS
Production Manager: Uta Engel and Romy Hansford-Gerber
Financial management: transmissions GmbH (DE) and Interim kultur AB (SE)
Production: Jefta van Dinther
Co-production: Norrlandsoperan Umeå, Cndc – Angers (Accueil Studio), Dansens Hus Stockholm, Dansnät Sverige, HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, PACT Zollverein Essen
Funded by: the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and the Performing Arts Fund In 2025, Jefta van Dinther received funding from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and the Swedish Arts Council
We would like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts for its support
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