Just a theory
Perhaps some chronically stumbling performers only become clumsy when observed. Being watched might make objects obstinate. It could be the cause of physical laws rebelling against the people on stage.
A gaze can be quite a weight to carry. It stiffens shoulders, arrests the hands. To feel its workings: try walking casually past a terrace full of staring men. Descend a staircase while strangers film you.
There’s a chance that the stumbling performer moves effortlessly, fluid and natural when unseen. Perhaps we, the audience, brush past these virtuosos while waiting for the metro, when swimming laps at the municipal pool. Chances are that everything they struggle with on stage takes on smooth forms in rehearsal and in daily life; it is with the audience entering, that their unease gets activated.
Salomé Mooij and Geert Belpaeme are putting the finishing touches on Anatomy of a Stumble. The performance premieres on March 21, 2026, at De Grote Post in Oostende.