Alain Platel (Het Theaterfestival 2014)

Actress Elsie de Brauw, who works at NTGent and the Münchner Kammerspiele, put a proposal to Alain Platel. She asked him to create a performance with actors and dancers. Alain Platel said yes. This is unsurprising for a choreographer who, right from the start, has always injected an element of theatre into his productions. He himself describes his dance as 'bastardised dance'. He is fascinated by the change that particular movements undergo when they have been put through the mangle of other bodies and personalities. What is important to him are movements that come into being when his dancers "move into that part of their head where civilisation has yet to penetrate". For the moment, the starting point for the new production, which will be created in 2014, is Marcos Prado's documentary 'Estamira'. This sketches out the life of a schizophrenic woman on a Brazilian rubbish dump, and looks at the unique way that she communicates with her environment. How do you survive with dignity in such undignified conditions? Musical sources of inspiration include Bach sung by deaf performers ('Tauber Bach') and arias by Mozart. The musical accompaniment to this live performance will be led by Steven Prengels, who has previously worked with Alain Platel on 'Gardenia' (2010) and 'C(h)oeurs' (2012).