Birds

World Premiere: Friday 16 April 2021, KVS Brussels

Following the success of Tornar (2015) and INVITED (2018), dancer and choreographer Seppe Baeyens builds upon his exploration of shaping a temporary community in Birds. For this new creation, he steps outside the theatre walls and ventures into the public space with a group of performers and musicians. There the normal course of events is interrupted – sometimes invisibly and sometimes plainly. Time and time again, unexpected compositions arise from playful interactions between onlookers, participants and coincidental passers-by, in which everyone appears to influence the outcome. Birds is a generous, social choreography that seeks out connection and imagination.

Since 2011, Seppe Baeyens has been closely associated with Ultima Vez’s activities. The large-scale performances that he has created and will create in past and future years under the company’s umbrella – Tornar (2015), INVITED (2018) and Birds (2021) – display great internal coherence, and are stepping stones in a wider project of artistic and social research. For Birds his starting points are the same as in his previous work: a diverse, intergenerational cast, participation and co-authorship. However he goes one step further by seeking out the unpredictability of the public space.

“Amazingly enough, Baeyens’ passion for social inclusion never impedes the artistic nature of his projects. This fact dispels the generally established notion that participatory work absolutely has to be consensus art.” – Charlotte de Somviele (Contemporary dance in Flanders & Brussels - Kunstenpunt)

“Participation theatre: this is way too often a synonym for pieces that put the viewer in the spotlight without, however, allowing them to participate. This in and by itself makes Seppe Baeyens’ work so special. He involves the spectators in his performances as fully-fledged partners. He always leaves their dignity intact." – Pieter T’jonck (Klara)