With the support of Kultur|lx – Art Council Luxembourg (as part of the Luxembourg selection 2025) Metz-Luxembourg contemporary dance company Corps In Situ will bring GO! to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August – a thrilling game-like performance for all the family, choreographed by celebrated dancer and choreographer Jennifer Gohier, with martial arts and dance, that sees two highly skilled performers meet, seek, and challenge each other.
GO! will run in Edinburgh from 12 – 24 August (not 18) at Main House at ZOO Southside, one of Edinburgh’s iconic Fringe performance spaces. Recently the show was awarded Best Children’s Production from Culture Ministry in Luxembourg (2023) and was chosen as part of the Luxembourg selection for Avignon Festival (2024).
Starring dance and martial artists Youri de Gussem and Ville Oinonen, GO! skillfully combines the fluidities of dance, martial arts, and digital technology to explore strength, weakness, collaboration, and personal limits through the communication and vibrant martial practices of two bodies. In a choreography that sees the individual worlds of karate, taijitsu, and contemporary dance combine to create a fresh duo, GO! celebrates the poise and beauty of movement, human connection, and humour in a physically astounding and vibrant performance.
Choreographer Jennifer Gohier trained in ballet at the Angers Conservatoire and the Ballet du Nord School, and joined the Ballet de l’Opéra Théâtre de Metz Métropole in 2005. Between 2009 and 2016, she continued her artistic career working for various companies and choreographers including: Christophe Garcia (FR), Julien Ficely (FR), Anu Sistonen (FIN), Bernard Baumgarten (LU), and others. Since 2019, Jennifer has performed for stage director Martine Waniowsky (FR) in the children’s show “Beneath the snow”. As choreographer, from 2015 to 2019 Jennifer co-created the first pieces of Corps In Situ’s company with Gregory Beaumont, such as: SAC A DOS (2017), LEAVE … (2018), and TRIP (2021). Holder of a state dance teacher’s diploma since 2010, she also works as a guest choreographer and teacher in various schools and choreographic institutions. With the aim of orienting Corps in Situ towards young audiences, Jennifer is a member of TiGrE, the young-audience network of Grand Est region, Scène d’Enfance – Assitej France and Assitej Luxembourg.
Drawing threads from both de Gussem and Oinonen’s backgrounds in hip-hop, karate, and contemporary dance, since its inception in 2022 GO! has played at: Theatre du Train Bleu, Avignon (as part of Avignon Festival 2024), Rotondes Luxembourg, Spinrag Kinderkunstenfestival of Kortrijk in Belgium, Derida Dance Center in Bulgaria, Atta Festival in Turkey, Gong Children Theater in Roumania, and many other venues largely in France and Luxembourg.
Born in Brussels, Youri De Gussem started hip hop dancing at the age of 11 in a private school. He then learned contemporary and ballet dance at the Athénée Royal des Beaux Arts of Brussels, at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (directed by Iris Bouche), and he obtained his Bachelor in contemporary dance. In Antwerp, he had the chance to experiment in several dance styles like Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Wim Vandekeybus, Pina Bausch and William Forsythe. He chose to finalize his formation at P.A.R.T.S., a school founded and directed by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in 2013. As a professional dancer, Youri worked with many choreographers such as Willie Dorner, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (under the direction of Damien Jalet and the company Eastman), Jean Guillaume Weis, Ricardo Ambrozio, Sarah Baltzinger, and Marie Martinez. He has been involved as dancer in Corps In Situ’s company projects since 2019.
Before studying dance, Ville Oinonen started training karate which eventually led to international competitions with the Finnish national team. In 2006, after four years of studying at the Kuopio Academy of Music and Dance, he got a degree in Dance pedagogy (BA). However, already while studying dance pedagogy, he was engaged in professional dance productions with the Routa Company – with the works of both Sanna Myllylahti and Heli Meklin. He has danced in the Dance Theatre MD (2006–2009 and 2014–2017) in pieces by Ari Numminen and Tero Saarinen. Rest of the time he has worked as a freelancer with Helena Franzén, Glims & Gloms Dance Company, Karttunen Kollektiv, Kosei Sakamoto and Anu Sistonen. In 2018, he got involved in a project called The Days Project which was started with Maria Nurmela and created in collaboration with British choreographer Theo Clinkard. The work still tours internationally. Ville is at the moment a freelance artist. He received three working grants for artistic work, the latest from Arts Promotion Centre Finland 2020.
Main Image: Courtesy of GO!