KVS

BIRDS

Seppe Baeyens, Yassin Mrabtifi & Martha Balthazar / Ultima Vez
Wed 07.07.2021 - Sat 30.04.2022
07.07.2021
-
30.04.2022

Following the success of Tornar (2015) and INVITED (2018), dancer and choreographer Seppe Baeyens builds upon his exploration of shaping a temporary community in Birds. For this new creation, he steps outside the theatre walls and ventures into the public space with a group of performers and musicians. There the normal course of events is interrupted – sometimes invisibly and sometimes plainly. Time and time again, unexpected compositions arise from playful interactions between onlookers, participants and coincidental passers-by, in which everyone appears to influence the outcome. Birds is a generous, social choreography that seeks out connection and imagination.

Since 2011, Seppe Baeyens has been closely associated with Ultima Vez’s activities. In his productions he mixes professional and non-professional dancers and actors. Baeyens searches for new artistic working methods, spread over a long period of time, based on co-authorship with the participants. His productions are not so much about individual expression, the symmetrically performed movement or the harmonic choreography, but the honest and authentic connection between the dancers during the performance. Accordingly, the live music and visual design play an important guiding and supporting role. In his latest project Birds, Seppe Baeyens also wants to broaden and diversify the creation process itself. He asked Martha Balthazar and Yassin Mrabtifi to create and accompany the performance with him.
 
Seppe Baeyens: 'The starting point for Birds is not the theatre space but the everyday environment. We will be going to organise the public space as a dramatic space, without depriving it of its accessibility. We strive to blur the boarders between the random passer-by spectators, performers and audience in a social and shared choreography. I also asked Martha Balthazar and Yassin Mrabtifi to co-create Birds. Until now, I have mainly applied my ideas on intergenerational and intercultural participation to the participants and audience of my performances. I am now extending that line to the creation process itself.'

"I once told a policeman who came to ask what happened, that we were doing 'an experiment in being together'. Because that is essentially what my job is."

Seppe Baeyens 

Extra

Can't get enough of it? After the performance there will be the exclusive presale of the INVITED CD, with music by Stef Heeren (who also made the music for Birds), Kwinten Mordijck and Elias Devoldere. A CD costs 10 euros and will be physically for sale after the performance.

Credits

CONCEPT, REGIE, CHOREOGRAFIE / CONCEPT, MISE EN SCÈNE & CHORÉGRAPHIE / CONCEPT, DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY Seppe Baeyens IN COCREATIE MET / EN COLLABORATION AVEC / IN COCREATION WITH Yassin Mrabtifi, Martha Balthazar GECREËERD MET & UITGEVOERD DOOR / CRÉÉ AVEC & INTERPÉTÉ PAR / CREATED WITH & PERFORMED BY Annette Baussart, Noudyse ‘Odile’ Decock, Emile Claus, Inès Bafdili, Rosa Boateng, Yacine Sangara, Gaspard Herblot, Kyria Tsara, Chisom Lois Onyebueke Chinaedu, Aude Uytterhoeven, Aiko Niang, Jago Pauwels, David Jarama, Isabelle Azaïs, Evarista Azaïs Jarama, Yassin Mrabtifi, Martha Balthazar, Seppe Baeyens MUZIEK GECOMPONEERD DOOR / MUSIQUE COMPOSÉE PAR / MUSIC COMPOSED BY Stef Heeren LIVE UITGEVOERD DOOR / INTERPÉTÉ PAR / LIVE PERFORMED BY Saif Al-Qaissy, Stef Heeren, Gaspard Herblot, Kyria Tsara DRAMATURGIE / DRAMATURGY Kristin Rogghe STAGIAIRE DRAMATURGIE / INTERN DRAMATURGY Lena Vercauteren BEWEGINGSASSISTENT / ASSISTENT DE MOUVEMENT / MOVEMENT ASSISTANT Germán Jauregui STAGE ARTISTIEKE ASSISTENTIE / STAGE D’ASSISTANCE ARTISTIQUE / ARTISTIC ASSISTANCE INTERNSHIP Bernadette Schnabel SCENOGRAFIE / SCÉNOGRAPHIE / SET DESIGN Fatima El Ouahabi, Björk Llaguno Alvarez, Loïse Vargas Y Jimenez, Jolien Gillijns coached by Eva Raffaella Menga & Bram Kerkhofs (LUCA School of Arts) KOSTUUMONTWERP / CONCEPTION COSTUMES / COSTUME DESIGN Lieve Meeussen PRODUCTIE & TOURMANAGEMENT / PRODUCTION & DIRECTEUR DE TOURNÉE / PRODUCTION & TOUR DIRECTION Ultima Vez COPRODUCTIE / COPRODUCTION KVS Brussels, STUK - House for Dance, Image & Sound (Leuven) co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union as part of DANCE ON, PASS ON, DREAM ON, tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf, Festival de Marseille RESIDENTIES / RÉSIDENCES / RESIDENCIES STUK Leuven, KVS Brussel, Festival de Marseille, tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf, Berliner Festspiele, Cultuurcentrum De Grote Post Oostende, CAMPO Gent MET DE STEUN VAN / AVEC LE SOUTIEN DE / WITH THE SUPPORT OF Tax Shelter maatregel van de Belgische Federale Overheid, Casa Kafka Pictures Tax Shelter empowered by Belfius. Ultima Vez wordt ondersteund door de Vlaamse Autoriteiten, de Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest MET DANK AAN / MERCI À / THANKS TO Decoratelier, Circularium, Maison des Cultures et de la Cohésion Sociale, MolenWest, Espace Catastrophe