Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Ictus
Vortex Temporum
© Vortex Temporum © Anne Van Aerschot ©
Choreography, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Music, Gérard Grisey, Vortex Temporum (1996)
With Boštjan Antončič, Carlos Garbin, Marie Goudot, Cynthia Loemij, Julien Monty, Michaël Pomero, and Igor Shyshko
Musical direction, Georges-Elie Octors
Musicians, Ensemble Ictus – Jean-Luc Plouvier (piano), Chryssi Dimitriou (flute), Dirk Descheemaeker (clarinet), Igor Semenoff (violin), Jeroen Robbrecht (alto), Geert De Bièvre (cello)
Lighting, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Luc Schaltin
Costumes, Anne-Catherine Kunz
Musical dramaturgy, Bojana Cvejić
A Rosas production
A coproduction with La Monnaie / De Munt (Brussels) ; Ruhrtriennale – Festival der Künste ; Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg ; Théâtre de la Ville-Paris ; Sadler’s Wells Theatre (London) ; Opéra de Lille ; ImPulsTanz (Vienna) ; Holland Festival (Amsterdam) ; Concertgebouw Brugge
In association with MC93 – Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis (Bobigny) ; and Festival d’Automne à Paris
First performed on 3 October 2013 as part of the Ruhrtriennale – Festival der Künste
The Fondation d’entreprise Hermès is the patron for the Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Portrait
In partnership with France Inter
How can we measure up to the mathematical complexity of Vortex Temporum, whilst also inventing a spectral work which slips into the mysteries of time? In tackling the sound-based nuances in Gérard Casey’s work, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker creates a molecular choreographic structure: a whirlwind of dance which sees each dancer responding to a specific instrument.
In 1996, Gérard Grisey was adding the finishing touches to Vortex Temporum, his towering work for seven musicians. The ensuing meditation on sound and time had something of the testimonial about it: the composer passed away two years later. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker associates the polyphony of this work with a danced counterpoint for seven dancers. What does polyphony look like when it is danced? How can a dancer embody one of the voices of a polyphonic network? De Keersmaeker attempts to respond to this question by means of an intricate intertwining of sound and movement. Each dancer is associated to one of the the seven musicians, and colours his or her dancing with patterns of movement corresponding to the very nature of each instrument. Dancers and musicians alike evolve in the same space, following a whirlwind pattern of interweaving circles. As the choreographer observes: “Time can be thought in both linear and cyclical terms”. What we call ‘now’ or ‘the present’ alternates, unceasingly, between memory and premonition - a permanent coming-and-going between residual image of the past and desire for the future.”
Running time: 1h15
See also
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Radouan Mriziga / Rosas, A7LA5 Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione
In collaboration with the choreographer and dancer Radouan Mriziga, the challenge taken up by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker is to make Vivaldi's Four Seasons heard, using the tools of dance to hone the way we listen to this baroque masterpiece. Under the auspices of abstraction, the resulting alliance reconnects with the imaginary ecological world that is conjured up by this famous concerto.
Rabih Mroué, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker A little bit of the moon
As part of a special invitation by the Festival d'Automne, choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and director Rabih Mroué shared, over the course of ten months, their thoughts, concerns, doubts, and questions regarding politics, art and life. After numerous exchanges by videoconference, the two artists now come together on the site of the former industrial complex, the new home of the Fiminco Foundation. Together, for the duration of a performance, they will be drawing up the plans for a new world for all.
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