Ultima Vez Traces 29 March - 1 April 2023

Programme

Wim Vandekeybus

Wim Vandekeybus (1963) is a choreographer, dancer, film maker and photographer. He founded his dance company Ultima Vez in the mid-eighties. With his unique style, Vandekeybus has created milestones in the development of modern dance with his performances over the years. Vandekeybus has created a movement language in which he juxtaposes intuition, impulse and instinct with energy, risk and danger, creating a dramatic world view, full of dynamics and conflicts. A central focus of his work is the irreconcilable conflict between body and mind, emotion and intellect, male and female, nature and culture, human and animal, group and individual, illusion and reality. Vandekeybus' work is characterised by an almost compulsive repetition of a single theme: how humans react to extreme situations. In this context, he pays particular attention to what he calls the 'moment of disaster' - which, ironically, does not preclude his inclusion of humour, playfulness and even a certain jocular lightness in his work.

Vandekeybus's performances take the form of associative montages with a penchant for crossing boundaries between disciplines, while losing none of their deeply rooted autonomy in the process. His dance is rendered in a powerfully theatrical way, with (live) music and video/film often driving the performances. Vandekeybus has previously collaborated with musicians such as Thierry De Mey, Peter Vermeersch, David Byrne, David Eugene Edwards, Arno, Charo Calvo, Mauro, Marc Ribot and Trixie Whitley. The choreographer has also created short films for use in various performances - some of which can be considered independent works in their own right, such as Blush (2004) and Monkey Sandwich (2013). Vandekeybus also made Galloping Mind (2015), his very first feature film.