The two major Antwerp cultural institutions, deSingel and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, have tightened their collaboration ties. The first proof of this is the performance 'TEMPUS FUGIT / Futur Proche' with its premiere at deSingel.
Kickoff Ballet Season
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen made a magnificent season start with the opera 'Aufstieg und fall der Mahagonny' by Kurt Weill directed by Ivo Van Hove and the sold-out Vonk production.
The ballet season also has plenty in store. As the season-opening ballet, the work of two choreographers, Johan Inger and Jan Martens, will be matched together in a double bill. Both choreographers present a production about time, accompanied by intimate piano and driving harpsichord music. Although they are different in nature, music plays an important role for both.
This will be the Belgian premiere for both choreographies, at the same time a fine start to the season. After that, the production will go on tour.
'TEMPUS FUGIT' Johan Inger, music Johann Sebastian Bach
Swedish choreographer Johan Inger had previously been a guest with the company with the energetic and somewhat reckless B.R.I.S.A. 'TEMPUS FUGIT' breathes a completely different atmosphere and was created a few years ago for Ballet Basel and received an update for Ballet Vlaanderen. Inger creates an image of a story about human struggle with time, grief and mourning. In doing so, he touches close to the skin and to the heart.
To the beautiful, moving music of J. S. Bach (1685 – 1750) with 'Chaconne' from the second violin partita as the central musical piece in an arrangement by Ferrucio Busoni - performed live by Albina Skvirskaya - a story unfolds of letting go and saying goodbye. The choreography has as its theme the passing time that flows away like sand between the fingers.
On a bare stage in diffuse lighting, a man and a woman stand positioned diagonally to each other and probe the space, their place in the big world: high, low, deep, front, back. Suddenly a metal strip of flowers falls in the middle of the stage. They move mirroring with the flowers between them. The woman seeks closeness, but wards off any physical contact. What stands out in the setting and lighting are the many shades of grey. Color comes to the stage through the costumes of the other dancers who pick the flowers. Atmospheric and exuberant group scenes develop, from which the two dancers repeatedly withdraw. A weakened person is supported and carried with compassion. The stage becomes a black hole, the music sounds dark and ominous. The stage lights up again somewhat, scattered across the stage are grey flowers. The music hesitantly resumes. The duo breaks free again, distances itself from the rest. The woman wants to give up. Her friend urges her on by biting. She tries, but in vain. Actually she wants to rest, while the other, who cannot yet let go, goes through the stages of grief, until he finally accepts the situation. Life-weary, she slides to the ground. The music gives this story of saying goodbye extra warmth and texture. The given theme is recognizable and touching. We are drawn into the roller coaster of life, but stand alone with grief, sorrow and saying goodbye. Inger knows how to bring this subject matter emotionally into view.
This choreography was warmly and enthusiastically received by the audience.
'Futur Proche' by Jan Martens
Jan Martens has been associate artist at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen since this season and immediately made a remarkable debut. The production 'Futur Proche' had its premiere this summer in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes in Avignon, one of Europe's most prestigious stages. For the young dancers, an experience of great magnitude. This honor was granted in the past to several other fellow countrymen of name and fame: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker in 2011, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Ivo Van Hove in 2016, and Martens himself. Opera Ballet Vlaanderen owes this privilege to Jan Martens, whom they brought on board. He already made a noted appearance in Avignon last year with his production 'Any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones' from his own company Grip. There was eager anticipation for 'Futur Proche'.
Harpsichord
Martens has a crush on harpsichord music and especially contemporary harpsichord music, performed live by Polish harpsichordist Goska Isphording. A surprising choice since the instrument has a somewhat dusty image. He decisively does away with that and demonstrates that this instrument with its subtle tonal nuances offers incredible possibilities for a choreographer. For Martens, the harpsichord is therefore a symbol of the human potential to reinvent ourselves time and again. The music is at times particularly repetitive and requires the utmost concentration from the dancers. He describes dancing itself as higher mathematics; it requires mental study and that is done with both mind and legs. Practically every note is converted into movement; the dancers are, as it were, swept along by the music.
The performance starts with an open curtain. A meter-long bench dominates the stage. The dancers trickle in one by one and take their places in groups or alone. They chill out with each other. A colorful, relaxed group of young people. On stage 15 dancers from Ballet Vlaanderen and two teenagers. When the music starts, they individually get the chance to visualize the notes: the lower body remains still, expressing itself mainly in lots of arm and hand movements that can follow the fast rhythm. In a quiet moment they rid themselves of their shoes and then the rhythmic party begins. The group splits in two. There is marching. The compact groups sway out into a long chain that moves in a round dance around the bench. The dancers spin on their axes, there are also freestyle moments. In hushed moments the dancers repeat their own move. The repetitive reminds one of people standing on an assembly line. All performers merge again in a lightning-fast dance spurred on by harpsichordist Goska Isphording.
Then the performance tilts. After the orgasmic, a deafening silence. James Vu Anh Pham installs a small camera. The images are projected huge on the backdrop. He narcissistically admires his own body and moves. More candidates present themselves and more… That small spot is taken up by too many egos. Symbolism for our overcrowded planet? The scene is plunged into darkness and a series of predictions made by someone in 1900 are projected onto the backdrop. The harpsichord appears enlarged on screen. Goska Isphording plays phenomenally, spurring on the dancers who, scattered across the stage, perform their own moves. So much happens simultaneously on stage that you can no longer follow it at all. Your attention becomes fragmented. Too much of a good thing! After this dance orgy, the exhausted dancers seek rest on the bench. Someone disappears into the wings and returns with some buckets of water. A large tub is rolled onto the stage. The other dancers also become water carriers. A kind of ritual baptism follows. The long bench is dismantled and placed here and there on the stage. The dancers move on a practically dark stage in slow motion, images freeze. A spotlight moves very slowly across the stage and illuminates the strange figures. Not once, but twice. A stage image that I associated with the unsettling paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. Progress and civilization prove to be anything but synonymous! Then Martens adds one more piece as a finale, with the dancers once again extremely slowly marking a rhythm with their feet until they come into the same cadence. Until the lights go out. Phew, you think then. Too much symbolism crammed together in one bundle.
'Futur Proche' starts promisingly, but loses its way towards the end. Jan Martens loses focus towards the end. Wants to compress too much in a short time, causing the storyline to scatter in all directions like a ball in a pinball machine. Moderate applause followed.
The young, talented and malleable dancers of Ballet Vlaanderen deserve all the praise for their commitment and talent.
