abonneer

#182

15.04.2026

—

14.09.2026

Nieuwsbrief

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EXÓTICA – Amanda Piña

A transpersonal and transcultural desire to dance together

EXÓTICA is a journey that sets off even before the show proper starts. In my rush through its arcades, the Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries become a zoetrope of chocolate shops, gift boutiques, and chic restaurants–a parade of taste tourism that mindlessly reiterates the colonial accumulation and display of riches. In that sense, the premiere of Chilean-Mexican-Austrian based artist Amanda Piña’s latest piece at the Théâtre Royal des Galeries feels site-responsive. EXÓTICA beckons its audiences to examine the productions and consumptions of coloniality as it manifests between the dancing and spectating bodies across ethnic and sexual asymmetries. I enter the foyer covered with red velvet and mirrors, with the soundscape of tropical forests layered beneath the noise of the crowd. I can’t resist the feeling of being moved by some tingle that our predicament has deprived us of more and more: Fascination.

Eylül Fidan Akıncı

review 06.06.2023

A dramaturgy of desire

What is the transformative potential of party performances?

Since venues reopened after the – hopefully – last lockdown, going to the theatre has become, more than ever, a festive event. Theatre makers are increasingly staging party scenes or working with music and choreography; sometimes theatre halls even transform into clubs, and queerness takes centre stage. Offstage, too, festivals and theatre houses are now regularly using parties to seduce a (new) audience. “About last night”, Kristof van Baarle asks himself: what does this trend have to offer to the theatre?

Kristof van Baarle

essay 27.04.2023

Nieuwsbrief

FLY – Sidney Leoni

An imaginary trip with the god of dance

While he was often called ‘le dieu de la danse,’ Vaslav Nijinsky was a god who fell hard from his towering cloud. In the early twentieth century, Nijinsky became a star dancer (and eventually a choreographer too) with the pioneering Ballets Russes in Paris, led by Sergei Diaghilev. His career there was as short as it was legendary. The story of that steep climb and downward fall is compellingly evoked in ‘FLY’, the new performance by choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker Sidney Leoni.

Timmy De Laet

review 18.04.2023

I’m someone else when I step into the club

Sara Dziri and Eric Cyuzuzo about the nightlife of their dreams

Endless fun, unlimited freedom, wild partying: that’s what nightlife is, isn’t it? Or isn’t it? Just like in the performing arts world, there is ongoing debate in the nightlife about safe(r) spaces and non-mixed spaces, about inclusion and the question what freedom actually means. Which written and unwritten rules apply in the club? Natalie Gielen discusses it with nightlife programmer Eric Cyuzuzo and with DJ, producer, artist, and organiser Sara Dziri, who both effortlessly navigate between the performing arts and the nightlife. DJ, actress, and curator Bouchra Lamsyeh adds a statement to this: is everything really allowed at night?

Natalie Gielen

interview 11.04.2023

‘All Night Long’ by Chantal Akerman

Dance, the maternal and the push and pull against the form.

The feature length film ‘Toute une nuit'(1982), ‘All Night Long’, is an early work by the Belgian director Chantal Akerman (1950-2015). ‘All Night long’ is constructed through tableaux that come together as a sort of choreography made of multiple bodies, with no lead. As the title suggests, we follow these bodies “all night long” from dusk to dawn as they run to and from each other, examining the various possibilities of where and what they want to be. It is a warm summer night, as they are rare in the mostly rainy Brussels where the film is set. 

Nathalie Rozanes

essay 02.02.2023