Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Meskerem Mees, Jean-Marie Aerts, Carlos Garbin / Rosas
EXIT ABOVE
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker retraces her steps towards the origins of her artistic work, to the roots of western pop music, looking for the points at which they intersect. My walking is my dancing, that has been true since her earliest works. So, her choreographies develop from simple motor sequences to spatial and physical complexity. Her new work uses Robert Johnson’s song Walking Blues, even if the journey goes back to Schubert’s Der Wanderer in the 19th century. Singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees composes with Jean-Marie Aerts, the sound architect behind 1980’s Belgian rock formation TC Matic, and dancer and guitarist Carlos Gabin, writing a series of variations and adaptations of walking songs, to be performed live on stage.
EXIT ABOVE examines the tension between marching together and opting out, between a romantic idealisation of hiking and the political potential that may unfold when people with shared issues simply walk alongside each other. The act of walking is contrary to the dominance of functionality and efficiency. It is an effort that brings about nothing but the passing of time and the crossing of space. Walking also produces thoughts and memories that show how much of a landscape our inner world is, too – a landscape that can often only be traversed by foot.
Choreography: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker; developed with /danced by: Abigail Aleksander, Ariadna Navarrete Valverde, Carlos Garbin, Jacob Storer, Jean Pierre Buré, Cintia Sebők, José Paulo dos Santos, Lav Crnčević, Mariana Miranda, Meskerem Mees, Nina Godderis, Rafa Galdino, Solal Mariotte; music: Carlos Garbin, Jean-Marie Aerts, Meskerem Mees; music performed by: Carlos Garbin, Meskerem Mees; scenography: Michel François; lighting: Max Adams; costumes: Aouatif Boulaich; text and lyrics: Meskerem Mees, Wannes Gyselinck; dramaturgy: Wannes Gyselinck; rehearsal directors: Clinton Stringer; Cynthia Loemij.
A production of Rosas. Co-produced by Concertgebouw Brugge (Bruges), De Munt / La Monnaie (Brussels), Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Le théâtre Garonne (Toulouse), GIE FONDOC OCCITANIE (Le Parvis Tarbes, Scène nationale ALBI Tarn, Le Cratère Alès, Scène nationale Grand Narbonne, Théâtre Garonne). With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.
This production is realized with the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, in collaboration with Casa Kafka Pictures – Belfius.
Rosas is supported by the Flemish Community, the Flemish Community Commission (VGC), and by the BNP Paribas Foundation.
Sponsored by Bündnis Internationale Produktionshäuser, supported by Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien.