Lick Life Against
the Direction
of its Fur
Premiere at Kaserne Basel (CH)
September 10-14, 2025
Tour:
far° festival Nyon (CH) August 2026
Read: Are the ghosts with us now?
Reflections on
Lick Life Against the Direction of Its Fur
by Persis Bekkering
“How could one gain a bit of time forward when faced with an acute shortage of future? The simple answer: by going a bit backward in time.”
Haunted by a lost future, three performers summon dances and fashions of the 1980s: an era where former hippies put their hope into market liberalism, where bright colours, campy jazz dance moves, and eccentric individuals dominated. Where algorithms, doomscrolling, and neofascism were already ghostly present. The future might be lost, but with a tragicomical insistence, Lick Life Against the Direction of Its Fur states that “weird” is a powerful act of freedom and resistance.
The piece unfolds in two chapters, like two sides of the same coin. On one side: a desire to retreat into the familiar territory of the past. On the other: the gut, screaming that the only place to live is now, in intimate friction with the shit that it entails. In between: a “metabolic rift” – the irreparable rupture between humans and nature that is inherent to capitalism.
Credits
Concept, choreography: Tyra Wigg
Dance, performance: Kihako Narisawa, Jessica Tamsin Alleman, Declan Whitaker
Sound: Elischa Heller
Light design, technical direction: Chiara Leonhardt
Costume: Anne-Sophie Raemy, Tyra Wigg
Stage objects: Ernestyna Orlowska, Tyra Wigg
Dramaturgy: Juan Felipe Amaya Gonzalez
Sound technician: Pam Meyer
Production: Paula Alonso Gomez
Pre-production & fundraising: Caroline Froelich, Moin Moin Produktion
Production assistant:
Lean Rüegg
Co-production: Kaserne Basel
Support: Fachausschuss für Darstellende Künste Basel-Stadt/Baselland, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Société Suisse des Auteurs (SSA), Stiftung Landis & Gyr
Residencies: Kaserne Basel, Gessnerallée Zürich, CAMPO Gent
Tour (so far): far° Festival Nyon 2026
Additional choreography credits:
David Byrne, Meredith Monk, Twyla Tharp, Trisha Brown, Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones, Jeffrey Hornaday
Sound credits:
Voices by Kihako Narisawa, Jessica Tamsin Alleman, Declan Whitaker, Tyra Wigg, Elischa Heller,
Screams by Sam Ramer, Sab Barzer, Milena Sentobe, Elischa Heller
The Soundtrack includes samples of the following songs:
Videosex – Detektivska priča, Grauzone – Eisbär, DAF – Erste DAF Probe, Hamid el Shaeri – Kawahel, DAF – Liebe auf den ersten Blick, Madonna – Like a Prayer, David Hasselhoff – Looking for Freedom, Talking Heads – Love For Sale, Madonna – Lucky Star, Vangelis – Main Titles, Delta 5 – Mind Your Own Business, Madonna – Papa don’t Preach, Salt-N-Pepa – Push It, Franco Battiato – Radio Varsavia, Eric Serra – The Big Blue (Ouverture), Van Helden – Jump, Suzanne Ciani – The First Wave – Birth Of Venus, F.R. David – Words, De La Soul – (3 Is) The Magic Number, Imperiet – Du ska va President, Madonna – Express Yourself, Meiko Nakahara – Gigolo, Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Nu Shooz – I Can’t Wait, Minor Threat – I Don’t Wana Hear It, Robert Gört & DAF – Im Schatten, Roxette – It Must Have Been Love, The Commodores – Nightshift, F.R. David – Pick Up The Phone, Whitney Houston & Jermaine Jackson – Shock Me, This Mortal Coil – Song To The Siren, Suzanne Ciani – The Second Wave – Sirens, David Sylvian – Before The Bullfight, Meiko Nakahara – Coconut No Kataomoi, LL Cool J – Get Down, Front 242 – I’m Rhythmus Bleiben, Madonna – Like A Virgin, Yello – Oh Yeah, The Screamers – Peer Pressure, Krokus – Screaming In The Night, Jermaine Jackson – (Closest Thing To) Perfect, De La Soul – Cool Breeze On The Rocks (Melted Version), Eric Carmen – Hungry Eyes, Denis & Denis – Ja Sam Lažljiva, Meiko Nakahara – Pearl No Manicure, Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time, RUN-DMC – Walk This Way (feat. Aerosmith), France Gall – Ella, Elle L’a, D.O.A. – I Don’t Give A Shit, Nitzer Ebb – Join In The Chant, ABBA – Lay All Your Love On Me, Suzanne Ciani – The Fifth Wave – Water Lullaby, Carola - Fångad av en stormvind (Swedish Version), Alphaville – Forever Young, Meiko Nakahara – Friday Night, De La Soul - enifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge), Vanessa Paradis – Joe Le Taxi, Krokus – Stayed Awake All Night, Imperiet - Var e vargen (Remix 1995), Au Pairs – Armagh, Vangelis – Blade Runner Blues, The Cure – Close To Me, Naked Roommate – Fill Space, Madonna – La Isla Bonita, Suicide – Love So Lonely, Denis & Denis - Voli Me Još Ovu Noć, DEVO – Puppet Boy, Front 242 – Work 01, LL Cool J – I Need Love, Prince – Purple Rain, Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place (Naice Melody), Nena – Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann, Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart, Front 242 – Welcome To Paradise, Nena – 99 Luftballons, Vangelis – Blade Runner (End Titles), Kraftwerk – Tour de France, Roxette – Listen To Your Heart, Front 242 - Work 242 N.Off Is N.Off, Denis & Denis - Program Tvog Kompjutera, Denis & Denis – Soba 23, Irene Cara – Flashdance… What a Feeling, Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), Japan – Ghosts, David Bowie – Let’s Dance, Pet Shop Boys – Always On My Mind, New Order – Blue Monday, Kraftwerk – Computer Love, Grace Jones – I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango), Laurie Anderson – O Superman, Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy, Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights, The Human League – Don’t You Want Me, a-ha – Take On Me, C. Spencer Yeh – Solo Voice I, C. Spencer Yeh – Solo Voice VI, Gerogeriegegege – Night T2 – T4, Mike Patton – Adult Themes For Voice
Image: Michelle Ettlin