Forget the classics – contemporary art is by nature a cosmopolitan aff air. Two of Brussels’ premier purveyors of contemporary creation – Flemish venues Kaaitheater and KVS – have even put together special programmes for expats like us.
Kaaitheater International offers a discounted pass to five selected performances – all in English – during the 2012-2013 season. Th e first is Jan Lauwers’ Marketplace 76, an epic story set in a small village that has just suffered a catastrophic explosion. The Flemish writer/director and his Needcompany troupe use dialogue (in English and French, with surtitles), dance and live music to dramatise the tension of a community on the emotional edge. While he’s there, Lauwers will also kick off the Soul Food series, which sees resident artists preside over dinner parties. Conversation is conducted, conveniently enough, in English. Marketplace: 24-27 October, 20.30
The next instalment of Kaaitheater International comes in December, when the playful Austrian-French company Superamas present their latest, Theatre. Marshall McLuhan’s maxim (“the medium is the message”) seems all the more relevant in the digital age. This multimedia spectacle pits virtual reality – in the form of avatars and 3D images – against flesh-and-blood actors. Superamas will also sit down at the Soul Food table to discuss the politics behind the media. 7-8 December, 20.30
Kaaitheater International runs to the very end of the season. Th e fifth and final item on the agenda is the world premiere of Nora, Antwerp collective TG STAN’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, slated for June.
www.kaaitheater.be
The Royal Flemish Theatre, otherwise known as KVS, is looking out for us this season, too. This month’s Freedom Festival, organised in partnership with the Francophone Théâtre National, reaches out to French and English speakers. And KVS’ own multilingual programme highlights works in English, French and German throughout the season.
Flemish choreographer Wim Vandekeybus and his company Ultima Vez are resurrecting their 25-year-old debut for the occasion. What the Body Does Not Remember marked an evolution in contemporary dance when it appeared in 1987. Vandekeybus’ performers took real risks on stage. They weren’t just exposed emotionally but physically as well.
They threw stones and darts at one another and launched themselves into the air, trusting their partners to catch them. They contorted and abused themselves. Audiences squirmed; then they raved. Today’s contemporary dancers owe much to the success of this piece. Vandekeybus has recruited a new cast to revisit the performance in all its perilous glory. 12-16 February, 20.00; 17 February, 15.00
Nine Finger is another of yesteryear’s sensations that enjoys a revival this season. This collaboration between dancer Fumiyo Ikeda, actor Benjamin Verdonck and producer/choreographer Alain Platel premiered in 2007 under a cloud of controversy. The production’s unflinching treatment of horror – namely the experience of an African child soldier – was too much for some. Others, however, acclaimed Nine Finger as a masterpiece of honesty and minimalism. The performers rely on nothing but body and voice to tell the story. Actor Stijn Van Opstal joins Ikeda for the 2013 reprise. 13-16 March, 20.00
KVS has a long history of collaboration with Congolese artists, most notably Kinsangani-based choreographer Faustin Linyekula. His Sur les Traces de Dinozord is in his native French, with Dutch and English surtitles. In it, Linyekula stages a surreal homecoming to a post-apocalyptic Kinsangani, complete with a live operatic soundtrack. Actors and dancers search the ruins for their broken dreams. The production is adapted from Linyekula’s 2006 Avignon Festival gem, Dinozord: the Dialogue Series III. 13-14 December, 20.00; 19-21 December, 20.30
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