Creation 2026

Since ancient times, rhythm has been used to bring members of a society together. Think, for example, of the chants of a religious order or the cadence of military marches. In short: rhythm is much more than a part of music.

Rhythm is therefore the starting point for Femke and Lander Gyselinck's new performance. The repetitive sounds and silences that form rhythmic patterns help to remember and reproduce music. They facilitate singing, playing or drumming in groups. And make dancing possible.

Apart from their genes, brother and sister Lander and Femke Gyselinck share a great fascination and passion for each other's professions. He is a drummer, she a dancer. For the creation of their first joint performance from 2016, Flamer, they decided on a professional exchange. Ten years later, they are again creating a performance together. This time for the big stage, out of a shared desire to be able to share their artistic ideas, grown in recent years, on a larger scale. Lander started translating his solo project Hihats in Trees into a percussion ensemble, and Femke became enthused by working with a larger group of dancers within the context of the productions Faust and Reflected, among others.

At a time when dance and culture are under pressure, they send a powerful message: they are not going for a duo again, but for a group creation with 7 dancers and 4 musicians. In this way, they reinforce the argument: the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

• Femke Gyselinck (1983, Belgium) is a dancer and choreographer. After completing her studies at P.A.R.T.S in 2006, she worked as a freelance dancer with Eleanor Bauer, Andros Zins-Browne and Esther Venrooy, among others. She worked for 9 years as artistic assistant to Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas and is part of the faculty of P.A.R.T.S. In her own work, Femke searches for a dance language that is closely intertwined with music, combining bold performativity with a fine form of expressivity.

• Lander Gyselinck (1987) is a drummer, composer and producer from Brussels. He has long been an important reference in the Belgian and international music scene. His particular, inventive and exploratory drumming style has given him a broad and individual sound palette that is appreciated in various musical fields. He thrives in very diverse artistic environments ranging from jazz, pop, studio, electronic, hip-hop to experimental improvised music, not only as a drummer but also as a composer and producer.  

• GRIP was founded in 2014 by choreographer and dancer Jan Martens and business director Klaartje Oerlemans. Since 2023, choreographers Femke Gyselinck, Jan Martens, Cherish Menzo and Steven Michel have acted as artistic directors. They do so in close dialogue with Klaartje Oerlemans and Rudi Meulemans, who, in his role as artistic coordinator, coordinates and facilitates the dialogue between the four makers.