Anthology is a dynamic skipping piece.

A group of skippers ventures on stage to create an energetic vortex that warps more than a decade’s popular images, dance styles and musical genres. With a collection of captivating songs and athletic choreographic scores, they propel audiences into a vigorous transit and a celebratory ride.  

 

Based on annual mashup songs of popular music and weaving through (inter)generational references,

Anthology examines and showcases pop culture as folkloric rhythm and an intelligence of survival and thriving. With nods to video-clips, gym and internet culture, the atmosphere of the piece provokes reflection on moving forward and being in movement as an untangling of history and incessant vitality. Endurance routines and overpowering music transform the stage into an arena of movement, an ice-skating rink and a ballroom in which dance histories emerge and disperse. While we experience the vulnerability and strength of the body, skipping ultimately becomes the common thread for a variety of footwork techniques and dance moves that are showcased in a fast and continuous rhythmic flow.

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​Anthology reflects on navigating an overwhelming flow of information in a rapidly changing, exhaustion-driven society, positioning collective resilience not as a commodity, but as a form of resistance. In this charged environment, pop culture emerges as a shared pulse - a living archive that links generations through movement and memory.

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Pop Anthologies

The musical inspiration for this piece comes from a phenomenon that gained popularity on streaming platforms in the 2010s: annual pop mash-ups. These tracks celebrate the most recognizable songs of the year by blending them into a single composition. Often combining 80 to 150 songs within 6 to 10 minutes, they compress an entire year of pop music into one fast-paced listening experience.​

The result is both exhilarating and disorienting. Familiar songs appear only briefly before melting into the next, creating a hybrid musical landscape where memories overlap and collide. These musical anthologies capture the rhythm of contemporary culture: constant movement, endless information and a continuous push forward.

In Anthology, skipping becomes a physical way of navigating this world — a practice of staying in motion within an overwhelming stream of images, sounds and histories.

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The Skipping Trilogy – methodology 

Choreographer Andreas Hannes has been exploring skipping as a choreographic practice since 2017. Earlier works such as The City and Tremble focused on the minimal, hypnotic and structural qualities of the movement.

With Anthology, the practice expands. While the formal precision of skipping remains, the choreography introduces more elaborate footwork, gestures and rhythmic shifts. Instead of a steady cadence, the choreography follows the dramatic structure of the mash-up music: sudden tempo changes, unexpected transitions and rhythmic collisions.

Drawing on his musical background, Andreas approaches the pop tracks almost like classical compositions. The choreography responds to their structure — playing with harmony, contrast and timing. Through this dialogue between body and music, Anthology reveals the joy, endurance and resilience embedded in movement.