ob•joie
An ode to the objects around us
In 'ob•joie' acrobat Josse De Broeck and percussionist Jef Callebaut share the pleasure of holding, feeling, hearing and manipulating an object: the soft rustle of the bristles of a sweeping brush, the warm heart of a candle, the chair that lovingly catches your bottom.
In this wordless hymn of praise, objects steal the show. In a poetic visual language, Callebaut & De Broeck challenge the obvious existence of objects. They pour un peu de joie and a touch of magic over recognizable situations.
Ob•joie is one of those rare shows that can work for any audience, regardless of age or background. The boyish playfulness is infectious but never childish. The focus is fascinating but never boring. Built-up tension ( how on earth is this going to work? ) organically transitions into a soothing relaxation (laughter!) to immediately end up back on the edge of your seat.
– Maarten Verhelst, editor-in-chief of circus magazine
about
Balancing the arts
Callebaut & De Broeck are a percussionist and an acrobat who share their love for small happiness. They seek the boundaries of certainty and are surprised by everyday objects with an almost childlike curiosity. In a playful and almost banal way they try to touch on all-encompassing themes in their work.
Jef Callebaut and Josse De Broeck have known each other since childhood. They went to circus school together. Josse stayed with the circus, and is now part of the acrobat collective Familiar Faces with which he created the stage performance Surface'. He also collaborated on the creation of 'Screws (Alexander Vantournhout), MUUR (Floor Van Leeuwen) and Carrying my father (THERE THERE Company). Jef followed his other passion, percussion. He created the performance Canto Ostinato on Roze Doek (Ensemble Kwartslag and Dawid Wojtalewicz) and the participatory children's performance MIET SPEELT (Miet Ensemble).
After they were both able to realize several projects within their own discipline, the time felt ripe to look over the wall. They started a research trajectory out of balance from which their first performance 'ob•joie' emerged. Josse started balancing objects as a child and loves the poetic visual language of it. In order to create a sensory experience, he looked for links with sound. Jef came into the picture through his research into soundscapes with everyday objects. As a percussionist, the world around him is his instrument.