Martin Zimmermann and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui – HAS BEEN

A wonderfully profound and entertaining piece that blends circus, performance and poetry – world-class theatre in its purest form.

HAS BEEN is the first collaboration between the internationally acclaimed Zurich-based choreographer and performer Martin Zimmermann (Swiss Grand Prix for the Performing Arts 2021 / Hans-Reinhard-Ring 2021) and the world-renowned choreographer and dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (who has collaborated with Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Madonna and many others). In this creation, the two explore the social facets of transience in a humorous and sensitive manner, reflecting on their own artistic mortality. Both artists have been major influences on the contemporary circus, dance and theatre worlds for over 25 years. In their first collaboration, they trace the stages of decay and take delight in dismantling the myth of the ‘has-been’.

On stage, time slowly takes its toll on bodies and scenery, making facades brittle and shaking even the most sheltered self-image. The characters desperately fight back. Seized by a tragicomic frenzy, they polish surfaces and patch up cracks. Yet they cannot escape the inevitable, nor the questions that increasingly force themselves upon them: How to deal with ageing? How to remain relevant? And what happens when the final curtain falls?

Accompanied by composer Alexandre Dai Castaing and musicians and performers Kaspy N'dia and Kazutomi ‘Tsuki’ Kozuki, Zimmermann and Cherkaoui create a universe in which Swiss Dadaism merges with Belgian Surrealism. Here, the laws of nature are turned on their head and the language of movement is inverted into the bizarre. An absolute gem of the performing arts! Don’t miss it.

STATEMENTS

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui on Martin Zimmermann:

“Working with Martin is hugely entertaining and deeply inspiring. His fearless approach to the tragicomic generates an unvarnished honesty that fits well with our joint exploration of movement and emotion. My own work is rooted in the physical and in gesture. Combined with Martin’s tragicomic characters and his vivid stage imagery, this creates a dynamic synergy. Together we create a space where humour and vulnerability meet, where boundaries shift and an authentic connection grows. It is an honour for me to blend our worlds and to see how something profoundly human emerges from our two styles.»

Martin Zimmermann on Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui:

«I have been following Larbi’s career since the very beginning. We started developing our own productions at the same time and at a very young age. I was amazed by his eclectic work spanning theatre and dance, the choreographic style he developed, and his flights of fancy. Larbi has always ventured into uncomfortable territory to draw creativity from it. I recognise myself in this approach to art. Deep down, we share many similarities, which is why I feel incredibly at ease with him and understood in my work. Our styles, however, are completely different. That makes the upcoming collaboration all the more exciting: I am very much looking forward to this promising friction and the artistic exchange.»

Martin Zimmermann

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

CREDITS

Concept, choreography, direction: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Martin Zimmermann

Co-created and performed by: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Martin Zimmermann, Alexandre Dai Castaing, Kaspy N’dia, Kazutomi 'Tsuki' Kozuki

Set design: Martin Zimmermann

Music composition: Alexandre Dai Castaing

Artistic and choreographic collaboration: Romain Guion

Costumes: Susanne Boner

Dramaturgy: Sabine Geistlich

Lighting design: Mark Van Denesse

Sound design: Andy Neresheimer

Movement coaching: Nelson Parrish Earl, Dimitri Jourde, David Lagerqvist

Technical concept: Ingo Groher, Christiane Voth

Set construction: Ingo Groher, Ateliers Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne

Stage set motorisation: Thierry Kaltenrieder

Object development and construction: Noé Wetter

Visual collaboration: Simeon Meier

Theatre painter: Michèle Rebetez-Martin

Props: Atelier CLSFX Paris, Eric Rihs

Lighting: Jan Olieslagers, Jérôme Bueche

Sound: Franck Bourgoin, Andy Neresheimer

Stage Manager: Ueli Kappeler, Jérôme Bueche

MZ Atelier:

Administration, Distribution: Alain Vuignier

International Producer: Claire Béjanin

Junior International Producer: Manon Lacoste

Technical Director: Ueli Kappeler

Communications and Fundraising: Zoé Richardet

Eastman:

Executive producer: Gert Van Overloop

Company manager: Ann Marcelis

Artistic associate: Stephan Laks

Production: Lars Boot

Communication: Jonas Schildermans

Production: MZ Atelier and Eastman

Co-production: Cultuurhuis de Warande, Manège Maubeuge, Scène nationale – Pôle international de production et de diffusion, Theater Casino Zug, Theater Winterthur, Kurtheater Baden, Anthéa– Antibes, L’Empreinte – Scène Nationale Brive-Tulle, Theater Rotterdam, Perpodium Antwerp

With financial support from the Belgian Government’s ‘Tax Shelter’ programme.

Supported by: René and Susanne Braginsky Foundation

Thanks to: Theater Neumarkt, Schauspielhaus Zürich, Tanzhaus Zürich, Millers Theater

Special thanks to: Léone Kündig and Daniel Kündig

Premiere: 24 September 2026, Cultuurhuis de Warande, Turnhout, Belgium

Duration: approx. 1h 15

Genre: Dance / Theatre / Circus

Age rating: 12 years and over

Martin Zimmermann / MZ Atelier is supported by the City of Zurich’s Department of Culture, the Cultural Office of the Canton of Zurich and Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council. Zimmermann is Artist in Residence at Manège Maubeuge, Scène nationale – Pôle international de production et de diffusion, and Associated Artist at Millers Theater Zurich.

Eastman is supported by the Flemish Government.

BIOGRAPHIES

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui first gained prominence in the dance world as an exceptionally agile performer in variety shows, dance clubs and on television. He then joined Alain Platel’s Iets op Bach with his Ghent-based company ‘Les ballets C de la B’. It was in this environment that Cherkaoui created his first full-length choreography for the dance piece Rien de Rien (2000), in which he acted as both director and dancer. This earned him a Nijinski Award. His subsequent well-known productions include d’avant (with Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola, Luc Dunberry and Damien Jalet, 2002), Tempus Fugit (2004) and Apocrifu (2007). All of these expanded and cemented his signature style.

Cherkaoui’s insatiable curiosity about other movement languages and artistic traditions led to transformative experiences: He worked with the Kathak virtuoso Akram Khan (zero degrees, 2005), the warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple in China (Sutra, 2008), the flamenco dancer Maria Pagés (Dunas, 2009), the Kuchapudi dancer Shantala Shivalingappa (Play, 2010), the physical theatre maker Wim Vandekeybus (It 3.0, 2011) and the figurehead of Irish national dance, Colin Dunne (Session, 2019). The starting point for his works is always his own experience of fluidity. Cherkaoui grew up between two cultures as the child of a Belgian mother and a Moroccan father; professionally, he works as a dancer, choreographer, stage director and composer, and thus across a wide variety of disciplines simultaneously. He explores his identity and, in doing so, engages with the complex dynamics between social groups, gender roles and belief systems. Cherkaoui’s works frequently reflect on boundaries and translate the theme of discrimination into movement. Whilst addressing otherness, his pieces always highlight shared experiences, creating a unifying effect.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is currently artistic director of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and of his own company, Eastman. He is also an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells in London and at the Théâtre National de Bretagne. Among the many awards he has received during his career are two Olivier Awards, three Dance Awards for Best Choreographer (2008, 2011, 2017), the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award and the ‘Ultima’, awarded by the Flemish government for outstanding cultural achievement.

Martin Zimmermann

The choreographer, theatre director, set designer and performer Martin Zimmermann (1970) grew up in the small village of Wildberg (CH) and, after completing an apprenticeship as a set designer in Zurich, graduated from the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC) in Paris. He went on a world tour with his graduation piece Le Cri du caméléon (1995) and subsequently returned to Switzerland, where he began to develop his own unique artistic universe. His productions have since been staged worldwide, including at the BAM in New York, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, the Sydney Opera House, the Schauspielhaus Zürich, the Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, the Semperoper in Dresden and the Fondation Beyeler art museum. Zimmermann’s stage designs have been awarded the Swiss Design Award three times in a row. In 2021, Martin Zimmermann received Switzerland’s highest theatre honour, the prestigious Grand Prix for the Performing Arts / Hans Reinhart Ring 2021.

For more than 25 years, he has been inventing, choreographing and directing visual and physical theatre without words, whose blend of contemporary circus, dance, theatre and spectacular stage installations has captivated a wide audience. Making art accessible to all and championing greater inclusion and diversity are issues particularly close to his heart. For his productions, he creates bizarre and strange worlds in which everyday objects are transported into parallel, often absurd realms. He breaks with convention, reveals the invisible, makes the improbable seem true, and encourages the audience to think in new ways. At the heart of his work lies the dialogue between the human body and objects with a life of their own, which he brings together in unstable and threatening environments to interact with one another. Human beings in all their complexity are the focus of his interest.

Works of particular significance in his oeuvre include Hans was Heiri (2012), Hallo (2014), which marked his first solo, and Eins Zwei Drei (2018). Zimmermann is currently on tour with Wonderful World, created in collaboration with choreographer Kinsun Chan and the Semperoper Ballet; with Danse Macabre (2021); and with his latest creation, Louise (2024).

Alexandre Dai Castaing

Alexandre Dai Castaing is a French-Vietnamese composer based in Switzerland. He studied classical piano in Paris and contemporary music, jazz and drumming in Geneva.

He usually works in an interdisciplinary manner; his artistic signature involves blending different genres and cultural influences. His musical universe is inspired by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Björk, Claude Debussy, and KODO – the latter being a Japanese band whose members he frequently collaborates with.

Dai Castaing has composed for a wide range of artistic and media fields, including feature films, operas and plays, commercials, video games, circus performances and television. He has now created over forty choreographic works and collaborated with prominent figures from the worlds of contemporary dance, ballet and hip-hop – including Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. In June 2024, Dai Castaing created an art event for Greenpeace Japan to draw attention to the excessive use of plastic. He has also composed for fashion shows, such as the Louboutin Show IV (2023, Paris Fashion Week), for Diane Paulus’s production of Romeo and Juliet (2024) and for François Hollande’s election campaign.

Dai Castaing’s most recent projects include, alongside Romeo and Juliet, Peter PAN (2024, commissioned by HUNGdance / National Taichung Theatre in Taiwan) and Ukiyo-e (2022, Grand Théâtre de Genève, world premiere directed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui).

Kazutomi 'Tsuki' Kozuki

The performer and singer Kazutomi ‘Tsuki’ Kozuki was born in Japan, where he began his career as a dancer with the Baby-Q Dance Company in 2004. Fascinated by the European dance scene, he took part in an audition held by the Belgian director and theatre maker Jan Fabre – and subsequently danced in his piece Requiem for a Metamorphosis (2007). In 2008, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui invited him to join Origine. This intimate project was performed at the Toneelhuis and co-produced with De Bijloke. Both projects led to a Tanz-Magazin nomination for Kozuki in the ‘Best Dancer’ category. Kozuki subsequently remained in Antwerp to work with Eastman as a dancer and creator. In this context, he danced in Babel(words) (2010), TeZukA (2011), Puz/zle (2012), 4D(2013), 生长genesis (2013) and Shell Shock (2014). In 2015, he appeared in the theatre production Pluto, based on the award-winning manga series by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki, at Bunkamura in Tokyo. He appeared in Cherkaoui’s operas Les Indes galantes (2016) and Alceste (2019) at the Bavarian State Opera, in Satyagraha (2017) at Theater Basel and in Idomeneo (2024) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He has also been a guest dancer with the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (Fall, 2015), the Göteborgs Operans Danskompani (Icon, 2016, and Stoic, 2018) and at the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève (Ukiyo-e, 2022).

He also featured in the advertising campaign Dom Pérignon x Lady Gaga: The labour of creation (2023) and in fashion presentations by designers Jan-Jan Van Essche (SUNU, CYCLE, RITE) and Yuima Nakazato. Kazutomi is currently touring with the pieces Nomad (2019), Vlaemsch (chez moi) (2022) and Ihsane (2024), and performs one of three solos in 3S (2020).

His works for other artists include Sinbad the Sailor with Vladimir Ivanoff’s music ensemble Sarband, Noctiluque with Japanese choreographer Kaori Ito, UMBRA with contemporary flamenco artist Fabian Thomé, and the music video No Light, No Light by Florence + The Machine, choreographed by Damien Jalet. Kazutomi has also modelled for The Boatman by the Belgian visual artist Hans Op de Beeck.

Kaspy N’dia

Kaspy N’dia (born 1983) completed his music studies at the Institut National des Arts in Kinshasa in 2010. Until 2012, he worked with the organisation Croisade Nationale Drépanocytose (CND) to raise awareness of sickle cell disease and combat it.

N’dia is currently conducting research at the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Valeurs Africaines (CERVA/RDC) and works as a coach in the L'Oeuvre de Suivi programme, d'Encadrement et de Protection des Enfants de la Rue (OSEPER), where he is dedicated to the monitoring, mentoring and protection of street children.

In 2013, he appeared in the play A Season in the Congo by Aimé Césaire, directed by Joe Wright with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui as co-director. He also collaborated with the latter on 生长genesis. He has also composed music for various productions, subsequently performing it live. These include Fractus V and 4D+ by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Stoic, a collaboration with GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, and Nomad.

Most recently, N'dia created *Spiegel*, an intimate and multidisciplinary theatre piece about identity and self-image in a super-diverse society, which he directed himself for the first time. Together with seven artists from the worlds of music and dance, he explored the question of how one sees oneself through the eyes of others. 350 portraits created by N'dia are combined with music, dance and poetry during the performance, creating a deeply personal yet collective narrative. Spiegel was performed at the Arenberg Theatre in Antwerp and marks a major milestone in N'dia’s artistic and personal development.