An elastic couple explore their romantic bonds and boundaries

Self-taught, French dancer Wilfried Ebongue and Luxembourg-born multidisciplinary artist Jill Bettendorff fell in love in the German cultural mecca of Berlin five years ago. Coming from different social, cultural and artistic backgrounds, they have embraced the challenge of finding common ground in their professional and private lives.

“Transitioning through to independence, we move on our own without needing the support of the other”

Director, videographer and editor Torben Loth invited the couple to explore their differences and personal boundaries in a meditative dance that took place in the Rostiger Nagel observation deck, Senftenberg; Mauerbrunnen in Invaliden Park, Berlin; and the city’s modernist crematorium. 

Entwined in elastic sheets and bands, Ebongue and Bettendorff eruditely navigate the conceptual space of their relationship— as well as the concrete environment—to foreground the three phases of a relationship: dependence, independence and interdependence. 

The director says: “Starting with dependence, this is a space where one is guided by the other regardless of one’s needs. Transitioning through to independence, we move on our own without needing the support of the other. We finally arrive in a space of interdependence, where we give ourselves the freedom to be ourselves and support each other equally.”