In Real Live Thursdays #1: Oxygen Debt
Put on your sportswear and get ready for an hour of sweating in MU during the philosophical spinning class Oxygen Debt, training both body and soul. Together with Luit Bakker as your tireless fitness coach and 15 other participants you’ll explore the limits of your own body. While you are moving and the oxygen debt in your muscles increases, you inevitably find yourself contemplating what is currently happening in your body. How does your heart beat, where does the blood flow, how do your muscles contract, what is breathing?

The faster we cycle, the closer we get to the sweaty reality that the body doesn't always do what we want. Do we dare to see our body as a reminder of our temporality, our heartbeat as what binds us to this earth? In a time in which makeability and progress are key, the performance offers a comforting and soft perspective on ourselves and each other: as people who slowly, very slowly, come to a standstill.

In Real Live Thursdays
Tentatively but happily leaving the lockdowns behind, MU treats you – just like last year - to a summer full of In Real Live Thursdays: cultural encounters on regular Thursday evenings with a series of surprising performances, films, music, theatre, workshops and talks. 

About Werkplaats van de Woestijne
Direction and concept by Bart van de Woestijne, founder of Werkplaats van de Woestijne. Werkplaats (Workshop) van de Woestijne forges life questions into thought experiences. A thought experience is an experience that forces you to look for your own answer to a big, impossible question. It addresses themes that people naturally try not to think about: What is it like to be dead? What is it like to be an animal? What is left of you when you are completely alone? Do we dare to investigate our temporality?

Oxygen Debt is a production by Over het IJ Festival, in co-production with Festival Cement. The performance is part of Expeditie Cement: MU is one of the locations during this summer tour, alongside De Nieuwe Vorst, Theaterfestival Boulevard and Verkadefabriek.

Credits
Direction & concept: Bart van de Woestijne | Dramaturgy: Maarten Bos | Production: Nikita Oldert | Performance: Luit Bakker | Campaign image: Nikki Sluiter & Afke van Ast | Technical design: Casper Wortmann | Sound design: Tjalling Schrik | Scenography: Jolein Kop & Tom Heintz | Co-production: Over het IJ Festival & Festival Cement | Artistic guidance: Alexandra Broeder | Business management: Joanneke van de Woestijne