KVS

Vlaemsch (chez moi)

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Hans Op De Beeck, Floris De Rycker & Jan-Jan Van Essche / Eastman, De Munt & KVS
Wed 15.06.2022 - Wed 22.06.2022
15.06.2022
-
22.06.2022

What does it mean for an artist to be Flemish when art doesn’t stop at borders? An aesthetic and philosophic manifesto by three contemporary ‘Flemish Masters’.

Claiming your roots can be a dangerous thing and can lead to fear or rejection of ‘those who are not from here’. But if we look at our family trees, we will notice that we are connected to a multitude of origins from far and away. This melting pot of influences forms our DNA and inspires the work of Belgian-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui musically, visually and theatrically: “Isolation is uninteresting. Being Flemish is a fluid identity, like any identity.”

What does it mean for an artist to be Flemish when art doesn’t stop at borders? When the influences largely come from ‘elsewhere’, when the artistic work is nourished by encounters from travels all over the world? Both humans and art are migrants by nature.

Flanders went through a period of cultural and economic prosperity in the 15th century, when artists where the main standard bearers for the region. The influence of Flemish polyphonic composers on music history is comparable to that of the Flemish primitives on art history. The fiamminghi, as artists from the Low Countries were then called, were reputed as innovative, free spirits, who did not allow borders to encapsulate them. They did not shy away from experiment, worked internationally, and were open to foreign influences. Both in music and painting, the major names enjoyed a superstar status, with secular and religious patrons fighting over their talents. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Hans Op de Beeck, Jan-Jan Van Essche and Floris De Rycker live and work in Flanders today and as contemporary Flemish artists, they have always been in dialogue with this rich past.

Between that period of prosperity and today, the development and economy of this ‘flat country’ have known their ups and downs, with borders repeatedly closing and reopening. It’s as if Flanders choreographs this exchange between falling back on itself and absorbing foreign identities to the rhythm of the tides. 

La Monnaie and KVS join forces to present Vlaemsch on stage: a prestigious collaboration within the Troika project.

What does it mean for an artist to be Flemish when art doesn’t stop at borders?

Extra

Prior to the performance, you can follow an introduction by Timmy De Laet free of charge. This introduction starts at 7.30pm in the atrium.

Credits

CONCEPT, REGIE & CHOREOGRAFIE / CONCEPT, MISE EN SCÈNE & CHORÉGRAPHIE / CONCEPT, DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui REGIE-ASSISTENT / ASSISTENTE MISE EN SCENE / DIRECTIOR ASSISTENT Greet Van Poeck DECORONTWERP / SCÉNOGRAPHIE / SCENOGRAPHY Hans Op De Beeck KOSTUUMONTWERP / CONCEPTION COSTUMES / COSTUME DESIGN Jan-Jan Van Essche & Veerle Van den Wouwer MUZIKALE LEIDING / DIRECTION MUSICALE / MUSICAL DIRECTION Floris De Rycker LIVE MUZIEK / MUSIQUE LIVE / LIVE MUSIC Ratas Del Viejo Mundo - Soetkin Baptist, Michaela Riener, Anne Rindhal Karlsen, Tomàs Maxé, Floris De Rycker, Tsubasa Hori DANS GECREËERD EN UITGEVOERD DOOR / DANSE CREEE ET INTERPRETEE PAR / DANCE CREATED AND PERFORMED BY Kazutomi ‘Tsuki’ Kozuki, Dorotea Saykaly, Helena Olmedo Duynslaeger, Dayan Akhmedgaliev, Marina Kushchova, Patrick ‘TwoFace’ Williams Seebacher, Nick Coutsier, Pau Aran Gimeno, Jonas Vandekerckhove, Ido Gidron, Christine Leboutte, Darryl E. Woods, Khalid Koujili El Yakoubi, Tister Ikomo REPETITOR & ASSISTENT VAN SIDI LARBI CHERKAOUI / REPETITEUR & ASSISTANT DE SIDI LARBI CHERKAOUI / REHEARSAL DIRECTOR & ASSISTANT OF SIDI LARBI CHERKAOUI Kevin Vivès TWEEDE REPETITOR / DEUXIEME REPETITEUR / SECOND REHEARSAL DIRECTOR Robbie Moore DRAMATURGIE / DRAMATURGY Timmy De Laet GELUIDSDESIGN / CONCEPTION SONORE / SOUND DESIGN Elric Reinartz, Johannes Bellinck LICHTDESIGN / CONCEPTION DES LUMIÈRES / LIGHTING DESIGN David Stockholm LICHTTECHNIEKER / TECHNICIEN LUMIERE / LIGHT TECHNICIAN Andries Van Gulck COÖRDINATIE KOSTUUMS / COORDINATION DES COSTUMES / COSTUME COORDINATION Veerle Van De Wouwer (Hans Op De Beeck), Andrea Kränzlin (Jan-Jan Van Essche) KLEEDSTERS / HABILLEURS / DRESSERS Nancy Colman, Saar Swinters, Alessandra Oliveira ACCESSOIRES / STAGE & PROPS Janneke Hertoghs BOVENTITELING / SURTITRAGE / SURTITLING Inge Floré TONEELMEESTER / RÉGIE DE PLATEAU / STAGE MANAGER Carlo Bourguignon TECHNISCH COÖRDINATOR / COORDINATEUR TECHNIQUE / TECHNICAL COORDINATION Manu Van Heuckelom PRODUCTIEMANAGER / RESPONSABLE DE LA PRODUCTION / PRODUCTION MANAGER Tanja Vrancken PRODUCTIE-ASSISTENT / ASSISTANT DE PRODUCTION / PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Lars Boot PRODUCER / PRODUCTEUR Karthika Naïr & Gert Van Overloop PRODUCTIE / PRODUCTION Eastman COPRODUCTIE MET / COPRODUCTION AVEC / COPRODUCTION WITH De Munt/La Monnaie, KVS, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Théâtre National De Chaillot, Sadler's Wells, Théâtre National De Bretagne, Les Théâtres De La Ville De Luxembourg, Perpodium, Theaterproductiehuis Zeelandia / Zeeland Nazomerfestival MET DE STEUN VAN / AVEC LE SOUTIEN DE / WITH THE SUPPORT OF de Vlaamse overheid en de tax shelter van de Belgische federale overheid / gouvernement flamand et du tax shelter du gouvernement fédéral belge / The Flemish Government and the Belgian Federal Government’s Tax Shelter Programme SPECIALE DANK AAN / REMERCIEMENTS SPÉCIAUX À / SPECIAL THANKS TO Sophie Hewitt, Leen van Gestel, Atelier Comate, Maximilian Verswijvelt, Valentina Blonda, Stefan Haesen, Lise Bruynseels