Wim Vandekeybus at OBV for the first time

In the coming months, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen will provide artistic support to three major artists from Flemish performing arts: Wim Vandekeybus, Alain Platel and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. From the latter we will present Fase in June. On 30 March, the world premiere Ombra by Alain Platel, Steven Prengels and Berlinde De Bruyckere will premiere. Ombra will be a tribute to Gerard Mortier, who passed away ten years ago this year. But first, from 23 March, there is PUUR by Wim Vandekeybus. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFQY19904YI[/embed]

With PUUR, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen presents for the first time a work by Wim Vandekeybus. After all, passing on the oeuvre of Flemish choreographers to a new generation of dancers is one of the focal points within the artistic policy of Jan Vandenhouwe.

Vandekeybus is creating a new version of PUUR for our dancers, which had its world premiere in 2005 in Singapore.

Two sources form the inspiration for this production.

Vandekeybus has been fascinated since childhood by the gruesome story of the massacre of innocent children in Bethlehem, a city that today is plagued by the horrors of war.

The story from the Gospel of Matthew about the infanticide by King Herodes following the birth of Jesus is, however, not solely Christian. Hinduism also knows a similar story. To preserve his power, King Kamsa, Krishna's uncle, orders all children to be killed, but Krishna manages to escape and will ultimately defeat Kamsa.

Another source is the moving book Schaduwkind by Dutch author P.F. Thomése. In it, the writer tells in a touching way about the loss of his daughter. From the collaboration between Vandekeybus and Thomése came the texts for this production, which strip the aforementioned stories of their religious context and place them in a universal framework. For this production, Thomése wrote a new prologue for the performance.

PUUR thus becomes a timeless story about guilt and innocence, responsibility and memory across generations. About parents who are powerless to protect their children, about children who blame their parents for negligence, about fathers who are afraid of losing their power and thus capable of killing other people's children. How will we look back in the hereafter at how things are in our world today?

The music is by Italian avant-garde composer Fausto Romitelli and American singer-songwriter of country rock music David Eugene Edwards.

Together with British actor Daniel Copeland, the dancers of OBV give shape to a mysterious world in which pain and tenderness lie disturbingly close together in this astounding dance theatre.