Wim Vandekeybus

Wim Vandekeybus (1963) is a choreographer, dancer, filmmaker and photographer. He founded his dance company Ultima Vez in the mid-eighties. He made a remarkable artistic debut with his first performance What the body does not remember (1987). The performance won a Bessie, an award granted for groundbreaking work. His second performance Les porteuses de mauvaises nouvelles (1989) was also honoured with this award. In his unique style, Vandekeybus has created milestones in the development of modern dance with his performances over the last few decades, at home and abroad.

Vandekeybus has created a language of movement wherein he juxtaposes intuition, impulse and instinct with energy, risk and danger, which exemplifies a dramatic Weltanschauung, full of dynamics and conflict, through the medium of dance. A central focus in his work is the irreconcilable conflict between body and mind, feeling and intellect, man and woman, nature and culture, man and animal, group and individual, illusion and reality. Vandekeybus’ work is characterised by almost obsessive reiterations of one single concern: how man responds to extreme situations. In this context, he attaches special importance to what he refers to as ‘the moment of catastrophe’ - which ironically does not preclude his inclusion of humour, playfulness and even a certain jocular lightheartedness in his work.

Vandekeybus’s performances take the form of associative montages with a penchant for crisscrossing borderlines between disciplines that at the same time lose nothing of their strongrooted autonomy in the process. His dance is rendered in a powerfully theatrical manner. (Live) music and video/film are not only integral to his mode of theatrical expression, but more often than not, are actually the prime movers underlying the performances. Vandekeybus has in the past collaborated with musicians such as Thierry De Mey, Peter Vermeersch, David Byrne, David Eugene Edwards, Arno, Charo Calvo, Mauro, Marc Ribot and Trixie Whitley. The choreographer has also created short films for use in various performances - some of which may be regarded as standalone works in their own right, such as Blush (2004) and Monkey Sandwich (2013). Vandekeybus also made Galloping Mind (2015), his very first feature film.

In the performances of his early period, text and story were totally subordinate to the bodies and their impulsive movements, scattered throughout the narrative as fragmentary material. In the course of the years, Vandekeybus developed a stronger narrative style that presents coherent fables with a broader scope, often revolving around community, individuals and conflict. His performances represent a transition from tensions between bodies at a purely physical level, to more complex tensions as between groups, and as between groups and individuals. He represented existing tragedies by Jan Decorte and Euripides, and also collaborated with contemporary authors such as Bart Meuleman, Peter Verhelst and Pieter de Buysser. His recent work such as Mockumentary of a Contemporary Saviour and TrapTown, reveal his overarching disquiet about the current political state of global affairs.

Each of Vandekeybus’s performances are markers in his quest for new forms: “That is why I sometimes make an extreme musical performance (nieuwZwart) and then base a project on the experiences of one person (Monkey Sandwich) and then find a theme in classical mythology (Oedipus/Bêt noir or Die Bakchen) or make an analytical piece in which theatricality plays an important role (Talk to the demon).” However, in essence, his performances are and remain rooted the vital energy of the body itself. This is a realm in which Vandekeybus has been able to create a rich and diverse oeuvre that is acclaimed not only at home, but internationally as well.

© Johan Jacobs

Work

Infamous Offspring (c) film still by Wim Vandekeybus, Fernando Vandekeybus, Dries Vanderaerden
Infamous Offspring (c) film still by Wim Vandekeybus, Fernando Vandekeybus, Dries Vanderaerden

Infamous Offspring

Performance
2023

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Archive

© Danny Willems
© Danny Willems

TrapTown

Performance
2018
Mockumentaryofa Contemporary Saviour C2 A9 Danny Willems 6245
Mockumentaryofa Contemporary Saviour C2 A9 Danny Willems 6245

Mockumentary of a Contemporary Saviour

Performance
2017
© Danny Willems
© Danny Willems

FEAR NOT

Music event
2013
© Pieter-Jan De Pue
© Pieter-Jan De Pue

Radical Wrong

Performance
2011
© Wim Vandekeybus
© Wim Vandekeybus

Achtertooglid

Exposition
2009
© Pieter Jan De Pue
© Pieter Jan De Pue

Menske

Performance
2007
© Jean Pierre Stoop
© Jean Pierre Stoop

Bêt noir

2006
© Jean Pierre Stoop
© Jean Pierre Stoop

Spiegel

Performance
2006
Here After (c) Jean-Pierre Stoop
Here After (c) Jean-Pierre Stoop

Here After

Film
2005
© Liesbet Peremans
© Liesbet Peremans

Rent a Kid, no Bullshit!

2004
Blush film still
Blush film still

Blush (the film)

Film
2004
© Chris van der Burght
© Chris van der Burght

Sonic Boom

Performance
2003
© Jean Pierre Stoop
© Jean Pierre Stoop

IT

Guest choreography
2002
© Bruno Vandermeulen
© Bruno Vandermeulen

Silver

Film
2000
© Reinhilde Terryn
© Reinhilde Terryn

Inasmuch...

Film
2000
© Jean-Pierre Stoop
© Jean-Pierre Stoop

The Last Words

Film
1999
© Octavio Iturbe
© Octavio Iturbe

Dust

Film
1996
© Wim Vandekeybus
© Wim Vandekeybus

Elba and Federico

Film
1993
© Wim Vandekeybus
© Wim Vandekeybus

La Mentira

Film
1992
© Octavio Iturbe
© Octavio Iturbe

Roseland

Film
1990

Agenda