Belgian Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker is one of the most influential choreographers of our time. Brian Eno and William Shakespeare have now inspired her to explore the phenomenon of transience.
Talk following the performance on Fri 16/10
In the thirty-five years of her work, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has constantly embarked on new avenues with her Rosas company, setting out to create a high-tension relationship between dance and music. Her choice of music is as precise as it is varied – ranging from early Ars subtilior music, as in “Cesena” which opened steirischer herbst 2011, to works dealings with icons of pop music.
In her new piece, “Golden Hours (As you like it)”, she sets out in search of the elusory phenomenon of time and transience. Her inspiration was a song by Brian Eno, pioneer of ambient music. “Golden Hours” opens with the words “The Passage of Time”, a central song from the album “Another Green World” ( 1975 ), Eno’s last rock record before setting out for new horizons.
This and other songs run like a thread through Keersmaeker’s wondrously iridescent, ironically and gently ruptured world dominated by intensity and sensuousness. Another source of inspiration is William Shakespeare’s fairy-tale comedy “As You Like It”, in which two lovers flee court intrigue to the golden world of the Forest of Arden. De Keersmaeker translates the English poet’s linguistic rhythm and poetical imagery into dance and motion. Eleven young dancers walk the thin line between formal abstraction and concrete gesture in the setting of an enchanted world, brought back to the here and now by Eno’s songs, in search of the time of golden hours.
Choreography Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
By and with Aron Blom, Linda Blomqvist, Tale Dolven, Carlos Garbin, Tarek Halaby, Mikko Hyvönen, Veli Lehtovaara, Sandra Ortega Bejarano, Elizaveta Penkova, Georgia Vardarou & Sue-Yeon Youn
Music Brian Eno “Another Green World” (1975)
Arrangements Carlos Garbin
Artistic advice Ann Veronica Janssens
Dramaturgical advice Bojana Cvejić
Light Luc Schaltin
Costumes Anne-Catherine Kunz
Costumes assistance Dorothée Catry & Heide Vanderieck
Artistic assistance Femke Gyselinck
Artistic coordination and planning Anne Van Aerschot
Technical direction Joris Erven
Sound Alexandre Fostier
Wardrobe Valérie De Waele
Technics Wannes De Rydt & Bert Veris
Thanks to Thierry Bae, Alex Jack, Floor Keersmaekers & Klaas Tindemans
Produced by Rosas
Co-produced by steirischer herbst, De Munt / La Monnaie (Brussels), Kaaitheater (Brussels), Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Sadler’s Wells (London), Opéra de Lille, Ruhrtriennale, Concertgebouw Brugge & Festival Montpellier Danse 2015
Supported by the Belgian Embassy – General Representation of the Government of Flanders & the Flemish community
Project sponsor AVL Cultural Foundation
steirischer herbst
Project management Kirsten Patent
Technical management Karl Masten
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas (BE)
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker was born in 1960 in Mechelen/Belgium. She is a choreographer and dancer, and one of the outstanding figures of contemporary dance today. Having studied in Brussels and New York, in 1982 she presented her widely celebrated debut production, “ Fase, four movements to the music of Steve Reich”. In the following year she founded her own dance company, Rosas, which during the same year won the “Bessie Award” with its debut of “Rosas danst Rosas”. The ensemble’s productions focus on the relationship between dance and other creative genres such as music and text: De Keersmaeker often makes use of elements drawn from jazz, pop music and literature, which combined with the strong expression and sensuality of her choreographies create a unique form of composition that has earned numerous prizes. Thus for instance in 2011 she was awarded the “Samuel H. Scripps Award for Lifetime Achievement” by the American Dance Festival. From 1992 to 2007 she also worked as a choreographer at the Brussels opera house La Monnaie. In 1995 this cooperation led to the foundation of the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (P.A.R.T.S.), one of the most renowned dance schools in Europe. In 2011 “Cesena”, a collaboration between De Keersmaeker and Belgian musician Björn Schmelzer, opened steirischer herbst.
