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Viviane

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  1. Alexandra, Ofcourse I'm curious ! Just the pain of getting to Antwerp is a big put-off...
  2. Next week Trisha Brown is performing 'Foray Forêt', 'How long...' and 'I love my robots' in Antwerp. It has been ages I saw the company...and since I'm a ballet-adept, I wondered if I should take some of my precious time to go and see... Advice, anyone ? Thanks !
  3. This month's "Dance Europe" features an interview by Jason Beechey with the new Directors of the Royal Ballet of Flanders : not to be missed !
  4. Thank you Alexandra, WOW that was quick !
  5. I know Ben is a former NYCB-soloist (and from my village ) but I lost track of him. I'm sure someone can help me and knows what he's doing now ? thanks !
  6. Please add : "DANCE FOR LIFE" Sunday 22 January 2006, Brussels 4th edition -if I'm not mistaken- and if the casting is as overwhelming as this year : AN ABSOLUTE MUST A matinee in 'Het Koninklijk circus'. More info nearer the time or check yourself : www.theloft.be.
  7. They are a minority, Cathy ! And, overlooked most of the time. It's the region around Eupen.
  8. Leigh, for that you should stay longer than 2 days !!! I wonder why I connect you with lace.... ? To make it more complicated we also have a 'general' government and one for Brussels !
  9. Hi Cathy ! Here is a Belgian balletomane with a weak spot for Dutch National Not that I have seen them often, but they've surely impressed me. I know this place is quiet now, but there are some others around like Marc and Herman who know a lot about the company !
  10. Bart, please take the statement about the 'real' ballet of Flanders with a wink ! It's very uncommon that the Antwerp-based balletcompany opens it's season in Ghent We have a splendid, little operahouse overhere and I prefer it far above the cool and dated Stadsschouwburg in Antwerp or their house-stage. Although carrying the name 'flanders' they mostly perform in Antwerp with some exceptions for other towns. The reason we can find mainly in lack of good accommodation, but since Bruges has the perfect venue for ballet....I wonder why they aren't appearing their ?! The linguistic differences are also felt in dance I'm afraid...not on the level of dance-quality or talent ofcourse but it's all about the money ! Our Royal ballet of Flanders is subsidised by the Flemish government and performs in Flemish towns... Le Ballet de la Wallonie doesn't exist anymore, but the task of major-dance company in the French speaking part has been taken up by the contemporary comp. "Charleroi Danse". There is not a kind of company representing the entire country. The situation in Brussels is different. It was the direction of the "De Munt"theatre in Brussels that invited Béjart and gave him all the chances to develop his artistry. Béjart got so wellknown overhere ànd worldwide, that he became the symbol of dance in our country. When he left (after a row with Gérard Mortier, the new Munt-director at that time and now Director of the Paris Opéra) there was the need to fill the 'gap' and Mortier invited Morris. Currently Anna Teresa de Keersmaecker's company "PARTS" is the 'company in residence' at the Munt...although some would like to hear it, I wouldn't call 'Parts' the company who represents Belgium !
  11. Thanks Alexandra, it's simply too hot outside....so I was a bit wandering around on the Net and ofcourse I'm very curious to follow the developments of our only ballet-troupe ! So, don't worry I'll keep you all updated and I'm sure Marc will made more in-depth comments :rolleyes: I agree with Bennetts on her point about the 'gap'. At certain levels and in certain 'environments' there is a huge gap between ballet and contemporary dance. Among the general public I would say it's due to not-knowing and/or lack of interest in what's happening in the whole dance-world. On companies and dancers-level I have felt sometimes a lack of respect ! Yes I know, how bad to say that A lot of the companies are heavy subsidised and how tighter the official budget becomes, the harder the competition. And if I say that the ballet got most of the money for years it explains a lot. Since a lot of contemporary companies are widely reknown and admired (Parts, les Ballets C de la B, Ultima Vez, to name but a few) the pression on the only remained balletcompany in the country is very high. Some politicians even asked themselves in public the reason of existence of a balletcompany ! Overhere you see ballet OR contemporary : that's the vision of the largest part of the audience. Maybe the different age-groupes that attend performances are also an indication for the problem ? That the Royal Ballet of Flanders has a broad neo-classical and contemporary repertoire is something that's hardly known outside the "ballet-walls" Filling the gap is impossible and not at the order I think, but I'm interested to see how Bennetts will build bridges between parties !
  12. Kathryn Bennetts sees a big gap between classical and contemporary dance overhere. She reckon this gap is not as wide in other countries. The fact that the company is called "ballet" gives a too one-sided picture to the public. The company can cope with many different styles and she finds that audiences that only saw contemporary dance in this country have missed out on an important part of the evolution in the balletworld. She will try to make the answer to this.
  13. Marc, there was an interesting interview with Kathryn Bennetts in the weekly "Knack", beginning this month. Under the title "Dans is iets intuïtiefs", the interviewer -Paul Demets- tries to discover the new wind that's going through the company. Bennetts talks about the one-sided view that the public overhere has about ballet and the big gap between classical and contemporary dance. She has been talking with Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker about an eventual cooperation...(oh dear ! :rolleyes: ) It's not a secret that the company will loose some of the dancers, as is common with the installment of a new director and she will wait a while to fill-in Aysem Sunal's place. The good news is -as you already told us : the orchestra will return !!! In the new season this will be for the Balanchine & Robbins opening-programme (Perfect gems) and 'Sleeping Beauty'. Irine Russo, an Antwerp pianist, will perform Chopin. We will get introductions to some of the performances and guided tours, while young dancers (from 16y on) will be able to attend workshops with Jan Nuyts (the co-director). Bennetts will also take the company more abroad (I guess further away than The Netherlands ???) and the international competition "Uncontainable" for young choreographers will give another input to the dancers and helps to provide a lifely structure to the company. And... they'll become -at last- a REAL "Flanders" ballet : the season opens in Ghent ! WOW !
  14. Natalia, many thanks for the effort you take to keep us updated ! It's highly appreciated ! Since I'm eagerly waiting for news...it's great to find 'instant-reviews' here
  15. I agree Mashinka. Unfortunately I couldn't attend the performance myself, but I heard enthusiastic reviews from friends who were there and don't have biased views on dancers. Clement Crisp's article is only an aproval of what I've heard. As for Mathieu Ganio and Dorothée Gilbert I prefer that one gave them the TIME to grow and become even more intriguing dancers...and by doing so maybe they can skip all the rubbish that's announced in next year's programme !
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