dance

After Le Sacre du Printemps, the German choreographer-performer Raimund Hoghe makes his own version of another icon in the history of ballet: Swan Lake, danced by brilliant, classically trained performers such as Ornella Ballestra, Brynjar Bandlien and Nabil Yahia-Aissa and by Lorenzo De Brabandere (formerly in Hoghes' Sacre) and Raimund Hoghe himself.

In performances such as Just Before, I said I, Quartett and In Real Time, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her sister Jolente (of Tg Stan) examine the relationship between language and movement. This also applies to Kassandra - speaking in twelve voices, which is danced to an English script written by Oscar van Woensel (see Dood Paard) for the seven female and five male dancers in Rosas. This new version of Kassandra comprises more dance material than in the first performance.

In his new creation, ANIMAL, the American choreographer Mark Tompkins, who works in France, will make his second guest appearance at the Kaaitheater. In ANIMAL he deals with the universal theme of the battle between Good and Evil. The audience is seated around a boxing ring in which the World Fighting Championship is being held. The four dancers engage in man-to-man combat with Mark Tompkins acting as referee.

Grace Ellen Barkey is an actress, dancer, choreographer and director and works for Needcompany on a permanent basis. Since 1992 she has managed to build up a successful international career for herself with her own work. In her new production, Chunking, she constructs scenes from conscious and unconscious memories. Chunking also includes a choreography set to Sonic Youth’s song Kill Yr Idols.

MHMMMM is the new production by the American choreographer Jennifer Lacey and the artist Nadia Lauro. It is constructed around two elements: a trio of women and a large group of extras (students at P.A.R.T.S.) who act as a ‘human environment’, a Greek chorus, a cinematic background or soundscape.

The choreography of the five-part Desh (the second part of the night) was created by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and the young Spanish choreographer Salva Sanchis. Both also appear in it as dancers. Marion Ballester completes the trio. They dance to traditional Indian music; Sanchis does a solo to John Coltrane’s India. Jazz and Indian music also come together in improvisations in certain themes and contexts.