MAX!MAL BL!NDMAN
A festive close
Three weeks of Rosas’ Early Works are brought to a festive close with a must-see concert: BL!NDMAN immerses itself in the repertoire of Maximalist!, the ensemble that was in at the birth of Rosas. Maximalist! was founded in 1984 by Thierry De Mey, Peter Vermeersch, Walter Hus and Eric Sleichim. A year before De Mey and Vermeersch composed the music for Rosas danst Rosas; they also composed music for Wim Vandekeybus’ first performance, What the Body Does Not Remember. Eric Sleichim composed music for several exhibitions by Jan Hoet, Walter Hus composed music for the choreographer Roxane Huilmand, and Thierry De Mey for his sister Michèle-Anne. The new wave in (dance) theatre thereby acquired a natural counterpart in music. During the five years of its existence, Maximalist! became all the rage and performed all over Europe.
• Backed up by an army of homemade percussion instruments and two pianos, BL!NDMAN brings Maximalist! back to life with an energy that proves this music has lost none of its power. A later work by Eric Sleichim for percussive alto saxophone and electronics completes the programme.
Programme
Thierry De Mey & Peter Vermeersch, Contre Six (1984)
Walter Hus, Five to Five (1984)
Peter Vermeersch, Scrum (1985)
Eric Sleichim, Lié / Délié (1987)
Thierry De Mey, Musique de Tables (1987)
Thierry De Mey & Peter Vermeersch, Habanera (1983)
Thierry De Mey, Balatum (1984)
artistic direction, concept, transcriptions and arrangements Eric Sleichim | piano Fabian Coomans | BL!NDMAN [sax] Koen Maas (soprano saxophone), Roeland Vanhoorne (clar & alto saxophone), Piet Rebel (tenor saxophone), Raf Minten (tenor & baritone saxophone), Eric Sleichim (alto & baritone saxophone) | BL!NDMAN [drums] Yves Goemare (piano & wood blocks), Hannes Nieuwlaet (pianoframe & wood blocks) | production BL!NDMAN (Brussels) | commission Festival of Flanders-Brussels | thanks to the Maximalists and to Thierry De Mey in particular | support Ministry of the Flemish Community, Flemish Community Commission of the Brussels-Capital Region
BL!NDMAN [sax] play Selmer Paris Saxophones.
