Eugénie Rebetez (*1984) grew up in the Swiss Jura. She has been working as a freelance stage artist for over 15 years. She has created four solo pieces to date: Gina (2010), Encore (2013), Bienvenue (2017) and Ha ha ha (2021), a play for young audiences, which was interpreted by Tarek Halaby. For La Fête des Vignerons in Vevey, she created Le défilé droit direct du Jura (2019), a rebellious parade. Other works include Nous trois (2019), an infernal trio, and Rendez-vous (2022), a piece with several guests. Carmen Jaquier made a film version of Rendez-vous for French-speaking Swiss television RTS. Parallel to her stage works, Eugénie Rebetez creates performances at art venues, including One night only (Kunst Halle St. Gallen, 2014), Unfertig (Hauser & Wirth Zurich, 2015) as well as Flesh, Heart and Soul and Geduld (for the exhibitions by Pipilotti Rist at Kunst Halle Krems 2015 and Kunsthaus Zurich 2016). For almost a decade, she has worked annually with students on the Bachelor of Dance programme at La Manufacture (Haute Ecole des Arts de la Scène) in Lausanne. From 2024 to 2027, Eugénie Rebetez will be continuously supported within the framework of concept funding, the new funding model of the City of Zurich Culture, and has also been a Tanzhaus accomplice since then. Her solo piece Comeback is planned for spring 2025.
Show
Eugénie Rebetez
Ha ha ha
Oh, to laugh! And to laugh again. And again, even louder. In order to master even the most difficult of situations.
In Ha ha ha, Eugénie Rebetez choreographs laughter as a way of life and explores worlds of emotions without wasting too many words. In the piece for young audiences aged six and up, the character embodied by Tarek Halaby alternates between reality and imagination, revealing how the two influence each other. With his large adult body, round and rather hairy, the protagonist of this stage journey seems somewhat out of place, but also full of grace. Alone in the space, he is confronted with his own physical, emotional and narrative limitations. Busily he explores his surroundings on the search for yet another adventure.
A central theme in Ha ha ha is the growth of both children and adults, with the piece revealing how laughter can help us move forward – in Rebetez’ signature mix that oscillates between poetry and comedy and always with a lot of sensitivity as well as a pinch of rock'n'roll.
"Choreographically, I'm interested in the constant negotiation between lightness and heaviness, intimacy and complicity, success and failure, between discovery and having to let go. In a second step, I am interested in the layering of the different emotions generated. But without establishing hierarchies: The loud roar and the soundless smirk are of equal value. As in all my works, I'm not concerned, casually speaking, with generating as many laughs as possible. Much rather, I'm interested in the entire emotional range that laughter can embody."
Eugénie Rebetez
- 6+
Choreography and direction Eugénie Rebetez
Creation und performance Tarek Halaby
Sound design Pascale Schaer
Light design and technical direction Léa Beloin
Dramaturgical advisor Tanzhaus Zürich Simon Froehling
Seamstress Susanne Boner
Artistic collaboration Alain Borek
Diffusion Léonore Guy
Production Verein Eugénie Rebetez
Photos Paola Caputo
Coproduction Tanzhaus Zürich, Charleroi danse / Centre chorégraphique de Wallonie-Bruxelles, Théâtre du Jura, RESO (Swiss Dance Network) Fund for Young Audiences
Creation partner Théâtre l'Echandole Yverdon
Supported by City of Zurich Culture, Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council, Department of Culture of the Canton of Zurich, Tanzhaus Zürich Promotional Society
