Jérôme Bel

A one-off revival of a key work

The French choreographer Jérôme Bel made his debut in 1994 with Nom donné par l'auteur. It was a fascinating Dadaist performance, ‘a poem of objects’ in which the two performers view the human body in the same way as when they are constantly rearranging a collection of things. Bel was then asked to create a second performance to ‘explain’ the first. This was Jérôme Bel (1995).

In it he started out from the question: what is dance? What are the minimal codes a dance performance must comply with? There has to be a body. And music. And light. Body: there are two kinds of body, male and female; in their ‘minimal form’: naked. The musical zero point lies in the human voice: in the performance a woman hums, while another introduces light in its most elementary form: a light bulb. The naked dancers use their own bodies to test the objects for all their uses and other possibilities.  

In De Morgen, the dance critic Myriam Van Imschoot described Bel as ‘a cross between Woody Allen and Jan Fabre’. You should have ordered your tickets by now!

‘Jérôme Bel has a deadpan sense of humour.’ – Le Monde
‘When we were leaving, still under the discreet spell of something deviant, something new at a time when the world is dominated by stereotypes, Descartes’ words came to mind.’ – Art Press
‘Jérôme Bel’s work is apparently simple and yet deeply enigmatic.’ –  Dance Theatre Journal

Matinee Kadee - Sunday 16/02 - 15:00

For parents: Jérôme Bel, Jérôme Bel par Jérôme Bel
For the children: film afternoon by Jekino > We explore the world of film: from flip books to animation films. We also put together a film of our own!
Crèche for younger brothers and sisters between 0 and 4 years old

Advance booking is required; there are a limited number of places available for the workshop; participation is free, provided there is a paid booking for the matinee performance.