Face of Flanders: Jeanne Brabants

“I think I was born dancing,” she once told an interviewer. She was born in Antwerp in 1920, the daughter of a father who was a gym teacher. She studied to follow the same profession but was soon diverted into ballet, studying with Lea Daan, taking over her father’s gymnastics and dance association at age 15, going to London for further studies and setting up her own dance school at 21.

Her search for financing for the school brought her into contact with the world of Antwerp politics, and in 1969 she set up the company that would be known as Ballet of Flanders, later winning the right to call itself Royal. She ran the company for 15 years.

During that time she worked as a choreographer, producing more than 200 works, and setting up groups like Danza Antiqua, which specialised in old dance forms, and Jeugd en Dans for young people. She retired officially in 1984 but continued to make her considerable presence felt throughout the world of dance in Flanders. In 2000 she was offered the title of baroness by King Albert II but declined to accept.

“Without her tireless commitment, energy, knowledge and passion for dance, the Flemish dance world would not have the international reputation it has today,” the Royal Ballet said in a statement. “Ms Brabants will be remembered for her professionalism, her strength and her inspiration,” general manager Lena De Meerleer added.

The company's artistic director Assis Carreiro called her “a tremendous force in the world of ballet” as well as “a true pioneer and a visionary”.

Brabants’ death comes as the Ballet of Flanders and Flemish Opera join in a single organisation – a development she opposed. “Her legacy in the Ballet, to which she remained committed to the last, will continue in the new organisation, standing on its own two artistic feet, and managed as a performing contemporary institution,” culture minister Joke Schauvliege said in a statement. “Two souls with one idea.”

“If there is such a thing as a dance culture in Flanders today, then it is largely thanks to the work of Jeanne Brabants and her sisters,” said Philip Heylen, alderman for culture in Antwerp and for years Brabants’ neighbour. “Jeanne had retired in 1984, but she never really stopped,” he said. “Until just a few months ago she even kept up her daily exercises. Jeanne thought it was very important to keep moving.”

Photo: Belga