He wasn’t kidding, and this month sees two of the most anticipated: world premieres by Alain Platel and Kris Verdonck.
Verdonck’s most recent performance at the Kaaitheater was a re-run of his well-regarded End as a selection in Het Theaterfestival (it was also included in 2008’s Kunstenfestivaldesarts). Although a meditation on an end-of-world scenario, Verdonck has hardly reached the end of an ever-growing catalogue.
His premiere this month, Actor #1, extends his fascination with the man/machine relationship. The performance is set in three separate rooms at Kaaistudios; the audience is led between them by a guide. “Mass”, the first installation, features a landscape of mist. “Huminid” is the nearest to a human performance with actor Johan Leysen. The final installation, “Dancer #3”, features a robot repeatedly attempting and failing to stand up, but apparently maintaining a cheerful demeanour as, one imagines, only a robot could.
Verdonck is in the midst of establishing his own company, the name of which will be announced at a party following the final performance of Actor #1 (before the production departs on a tour). Tickets for that performance are already sold out.
Platel, on the other hand, is working with the well-established Les Ballets C de la B, the company he set up more than 25 years ago in Ghent. Their provocative work became part of the “Flemish Wave”, a group of avant-garde artists that tore apart boundaries in artistic expression in the 1980s. The company provided a platform for a variety of choreographers and, by the mid-1990s, performed to international acclaim.
Platel’s recent works – VSPRS and pitié! – delved into religious themes and featured elaborate sets, costumes and lighting. But this month’s world premiere, Out of Context, promises a minimalist style, with a focus on the nine dancers’ disconcerting movements: hysterical, sudden and ecstatic.
Out of Context (pictured) is dedicated to Pina Bausch, the influential German neo-expressionist choreographer who died suddenly this past summer. Her methods had a great impact on Platel’s work, and this work follows in that vein, growing from the dialogue between dancers and choreographer. After its premiere in Brussels next week, the performance takes off on a 50-city tour, including several venues in Flanders.
Flanders Today is a 
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