Underdog was created by for Tanz Mainz at Staatstheater Mainz. Working closely with the entire 23-member ensemble, Alan developed a performance that interweaves movement, text, and striking visual design to ask: who decides who belongs, and what happens when the system shifts?

Åsmund Færqvåg’s stage becomes a shifting terrain: from a labyrinth of chairs, referencing the structures and societal order, to a stark wooden wall with the cut-out silhouette of a tree. Costumes by Stine Sjøgren reveal both facade and vulnerability, while Torkel Skjerven’s lighting shapes and reshapes the stage space, directing and changing how power and presence are perceived.

Text and dance share equal weight. Performed predominantly in German, the spoken passages range from the intimate to the ironic, exploring self-doubt, social judgment, and the longing for connection. Gunnar Innvær’s sound design — cinematic, evocative, and emotionally charged — intensifies the shifting dynamics between mass and individual.

In Underdog, the title becomes a cautionary metaphor for our own time: how easy it is to underestimate someone, to dismiss them, to push them down - only to see them rebound with force. When attention is turned away, threats can grow unseen. The work asks us to consider the resilience, unpredictability, and latent power of those we fail to recognise.

Moments shift from delicate duets to explosive group formations, from comic relief to raw vulnerability. As tanznetz noted, “The opening of the piece vividly captures… the desire for personal fulfilment and individuality, but just as much for connection, belonging and care.”

Underdog is not a linear hero’s tale, but an intricate experiment in shifting perspectives - a portrait of the underestimated and the underestimated within ourselves.

www.tanzmainz/Underdog