Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker: EXIT ABOVE
NYU Skirball Center
Event details
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
“For more than 40 years, Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has been the queen of visionary rigour; her austere remaking of dance has inspired an entire contemporary movement. You don’t necessarily go to a work by her expecting entertainment, but you are likely to emerge provoked.” – The Guardian
ABOUT THE WORK
Legendary choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker returns to NYU Skirball with EXIT ABOVE, a bold exploration of movement, rhythm, and musicality. Set to a driving score inspired by the roots of Western pop music, the blues, this hypnotic work transforms walking into a mesmerizing act of dance. De Keersmaeker’s signature precision meets raw, unfiltered energy as dancers move in a relentless, rhythmic flow. Past and present collide in this exhilarating fusion of dance and live music, where every step becomes a pulse of momentum. Don’t miss this masterwork from one of the most influential choreographers of our time.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
In 1980, after studying dance at Mudra School in Brussels and Tisch School of the Arts in New York, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (b. 1960) created Asch, her first choreographic work. Two years later came the premiere of Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich. De Keersmaeker established the dance company Rosas in Brussels in 1983, while creating the work Rosas danst Rosas. Since these breakthrough pieces, her choreography has been grounded in a rigorous and prolific exploration of the relationship between dance and music. She has created with Rosas a wide-ranging body of work engaging the musical structures and scores of several periods, from early music to contemporary and popular idioms. Her choreographic practice also draws formal principles from geometry, numerical patterns, the natural world, and social structures to offer a unique perspective on the body’s articulation in space and time. In 1995 De Keersmaeker established the school P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) in Brussels in association with De Munt/La Monnaie.
CREATIVE CREDITS
Choreography Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Created with and Danced by Abigail Aleksander, Jean Pierre Buré, Lav Crnčević, José Paulo dos Santos, Rafa Galdino, Carlos Garbin, Nina Godderis, Solal Mariotte, Meskerem Mees, Mariana Miranda, Ariadna Navarrete Valverde, Cintia Sebők, Jacob Storer
Also danced by Pierre Bastin, Niklas Capel, Nathan Felix-Rivot, Yuika Hashimoto, Robson Ledesma, Margarida Ramalhete
Music Meskerem Mees, Jean-Marie Aerts, Carlos Garbin
Music performed by Meskerem Mees, Carlos Garbin
Scenography Michel François
Light design Max Adams
Costume design Aouatif Boulaich
Text and Lyrics Meskerem Mees, Wannes Gyselinck
Dramaturgy Wannes Gyselinck
Rehearsal Directors Cynthia Loemij, Clinton Stringer
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 31 May 2023, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Brussels presented by Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, De Munt/ La Monnaie, Kaaitheater and Kunstenfestivaldesarts