“The conclusion of most relationships often involves a suspended moment, a pause fueled by the fear of the inevitable separation. It's the moment when both individuals hesitate to exit the room, fully aware that there's no turning back.”
Antonin Rioche comes to Orsolina28 Art Foundation to restage “We Are Doing Great”, a poignant and cinematic duet that explores the final moment of a relationship, the instant before the definitive goodbye.
Blending dance and theater, the work builds a raw and intimate space shaped by stillness, suffering and love. The dance unfolds within a suspended time, charged with tension: the door stands open, yet neither person finds the courage to take the first step. The air becomes dense, almost tangible; every breath carries the weight of what remains unspoken.
In this electrically charged pause, defeat feels unbearable and leaving first seems impossible. The duet inhabits precisely this precipice, the fragile threshold before the final break. Two bodies remain frozen, avoiding each other’s gaze, suspended between the impulse to rekindle the flame and the awareness that the fire has already gone out. Both wait for the other to move, to speak, to end it. Both are immersed in fear.
“We Are Doing Great” becomes an act of introspection, a relentless questioning of “where did it all go wrong?” As if the entire relationship was condensed into a single fraction of time, the piece captures love and hatred intertwined, pain moving through shadow and the quiet violence of a goodbye that has not yet happened.
Antonin Rioche
Antonin Rioche is a director, choreographer, and visual artist born in Angers in 1994. Now based in Paris, he founded Funny People, a platform for collaboration devoted to research, creation, education and performance. Funny People is curated and directed by Antonin himself. He studied at Ballet Junior of Geneva, where he explored works by choreographers such as Roy Assaf, Marina Mascarell, Alexander Ekman, Hofesh Shechter, and Barak Marshall. Continuing his career as a freelance dancer, Antonin collaborated with renowned artists and companies including Olivier Dubois, Sasha Waltz & Guests, Michael Keegan-Dolan, Theo Clinkard, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. His debut solo piece Ohboy! created during the Eastman Summer Intensive 2017 was an international success and therefore marked a significant career milestone and the short film adaptation received several awards at international film, fashion, and dance festivals. From 2018 to 2024, he was an artist in residence at KorzoTheater in The Hague, where he created works such as The Others, Finally a Sign of Life, Huidhonger, Glitter, Ohgirl! and We Are Doing Great. His work has toured across the Netherlands and internationally, in collaboration with leading institutions including Netherlands Dance Theater, Holland Dance Festival, Mart Foundation, CCN Créteil, and Orsolina28. Blending realism with surrealism, Antonin’s work creates immersive experiences that resonate on multiple sensory and emotional levels. His creations reflect contemporary culture by merging philosophy and imagination to craft narratives that connect both universally and intimately.