Lisa Vereertbrugghen has been researching hardcore techno sound and dance styles since 2014, trough different formats in between performance, sound and installation. She attained a master’s degree in cultural history (history of the body) at the University of Leuven and a degree in choreography in the School for New Dance Development (SNDO) in Amsterdam. She most often works with her long term collaborators Michael Langeder, Sophie Guisset, Vera Martins and Madison Bycroft. She also works as a dramaturg, performer and choreographer for various performance- and visual artists in between Brussels, Berlin and Amsterdam and she teaches at the Académie Royale de Beaux Arts in Brussels. In recent years Lisa created Softcore - a hardcore encounter (2019) and Disquiet - sensational aesthetics of a technokin (2021). Celebration (working title – 2023) will be the first work she makes for a group, produced by Ghent based arts centre CAMPO.
Project
While we are here.
How can I dance intimately with a group?
This question lead me to folk dance, to see what it could teach my longterm hardcore techno dance practice. Both folk and techno provide a framework for having intimate, non-normative connections. They have the potential to queer notions of identity and togetherness.
Celebration (working title) aims to become a borderless hybrid-techno-folk that is not one, but many. One that celebrates difference. This dance is a transformational process, rather than a confirmation of a certain essence or core.
The choreographic research is based on hardcore techno (gabber, shuffling, jumpstyle) and folk dances that I learned by meeting local folk practitioners in my last residencies.
Repetition, touch, proximity and interconnectedness are central in the research.
Preparation and costuming are also important: the preparation of the space and the bodies for the event of togetherness.
Finally I want to highlight the circular quality of the dances, by placing the audience all around the dancers. The soundtrack for the performance will be inspired by hard techno, but I want to work on the circular and sensual, and slow transformation of the beats.
PREMIERE Celebration will premiere during December Dance 2023 in Bruges (BE). The piece is available for touring throughout 2024 and 2025.
CREDITS Choreography: Lisa Vereertbrugghen Dance: Claire Godsmark, Dolores Hulan, Eimi Leggett, Castélie Yalombo and Lisa Vereertbrugghen Sound design: Michael Langeder Light design: Vera Martins Dramaturgy: Charlotte de Somviele & Sophie Guisset Technique: CAMPO Production: CAMPO Partners/Residencies: Dans in Brugge (by Concertgebouw, Cultuurcentrum & KAAP, Brugge),CAMPO (Gent), Kunstenwerkplaats KWP (Brussels), STUK (Leuven), ICI-CCN Montpellier, Kunstencentrum BUDA (Kortrijk), BIT-teatergarasjen (Bergen).