Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Meskerem Mees, Jean-Marie Aerts, Carlos Garbin / Rosas
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Meskerem Mees, Jean-Marie Aerts, Carlos Garbin / Rosas
In EXIT ABOVE, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker returns once again to the simplest of movements, so familiar that we hardly stop to think about it: walking. Then she goes on to add complexity, using precise geometrical patterns. The starting point for the performance is the song Walking Blues by blues legend Robert Johnson. The journey then leads back to Der Wanderer by Schubert, the best-known singer-songwriter of the 19th century. Meskerem Mees, an upcoming Flemish songwriter with Ethiopian roots, performs other variations of ‘walking songs’, composed together with Jean-Marie Aerts, sound architect of TC Matic, and with dancer and guitarist Carlos Garbin.
EXIT ABOVE explores the tension between marching together and stepping out, between romantic solitary ‘wandering’, and the political potential of a group of unarmed people walking together, the individual and the collective, the line and the circle. The act of walking runs counter to the hegemony of functionality and efficiency. It is an effort that produces nothing aside from the passing of time and the crossing of space.
Co-presentation with Teatro Municipal do Porto - Rivoli on 6 and 7 JUN.
Choreography
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Co-creation and cast
Abigail Aleksander, Jean Pierre Buré, Lav Crnčević, José Paulo dos Santos, Rafa Galdino (gedanst door/dansé par/danced by Nathan Felix-Rivot), Carlos Garbin, Nina Godderis, Solal Mariotte, Meskerem Mees, Mariana Miranda, Ariadna Navarrete Valverde, Cintia Sebők, Jacob Storer
Music
Meskerem Mees, Jean-Marie Aerts, Carlos Garbin
Musical performance
Meskerem Mees, Carlos Garbin
Scenography
Michel François
Light design
Max Adams
Costume design
Aouatif Boulaich
Text and lyrics
Meskerem Mees, Wannes Gyselinck
Opening text
Walter Benjamin Über den Begriff der Geschichte, Thèse IX
Dramaturgy
Wannes Gyselinck
Rehearsal directors
Cynthia Loemij, Clinton Stringer
Artistic coordination and planning
Anne Van Aerschot
Assistant to the artistic director
Martine Lange
Tour manager
Vincent Philippart
Technical director
Thomas Verachtert
Technicians
Pieter Kint, Arno Truyens
Sound
Alex Fostier
Costume coordinator
Veerle Van den Wouwer
Assisted by
Els Van Buggenhout and Chiara Mazzarolo
Wardrobe
Ella De Vos
Sewing
Chiara Mazzarolo, Martha Verleyen
Managing director
Lies Martens
Distribution
Frans Brood Productions
Production
Rosas
Coproduction
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)
World Premiere
May 31, 2023, Théâtre National Wallonie-Brussels presented by Théâtre National Wallonie- Bruxelles, De Munt, Kaaitheater and Kunstenfestivaldesarts
With the support of Dance Reflections by
Van Cleef & Arpels
This production has the support of the Belgian Federal Government's Tax Shelter, in collaboration with Casa Kafka Pictures.
Rosas is supported by the Flemish Community and the Flemish Community Commission (VGC).
