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Freie Form

Marc Vanrunxt

Copyright information:Raymond Mallentjer

Choreographer Marc Vanrunxt and dancer Samantha van Wissen join forces in a performance about different generations of dancers, dance identities, energy, and how to give all of this ‘form’. Freie Form is inspired by the sculpture of the same name by Franz West.

 

The performance explores how memories can live on in bodies, objects, costumes, and sound. Through the reuse of objects and costumes from previous performances, Vanrunxt brings them back to life. The dancers in Freie Form are Samantha van Wissen and Igor Shyshko. Van Wissen was shaped by her years with the dance company Rosas and choreographer Thomas Hauert.

 

Also on stage is composer and mezzo-soprano Els Mondelaers, with whom Vanrunxt has frequently collaborated — most recently in works such as Hyena Hyena and 4.48. For Freie Form, Mondelaers composes and performs new work based on fragments by Morton Feldman and Yoko Ono. Mondelaers is a versatile performer who has worked with ensembles such as Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, ICTUS, Asko|Schönberg, and Slagwerk Den Haag.

 

Freie Form is a sculpture by Austrian artist Franz West from 1998, located in the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp. For Vanrunxt, this object affirms a positive outlook on the future and its possibilities. The “freie form” raises questions: What is free? What is form? What is a free form? Does it exist — and is there such a thing as formlessness in nature, in life, in art?

 

"In Freie Form, the choreographer initiates a game of subtle shifts in recurring movement phrases and trajectories across the stage. As the performance unfolds, a fragile web of echoes and memory emerges – subtle resonances between what has happened and what remains. Across choreographies, Vanrunxt enjoys working with such echoes: he often reuses costumes and objects from earlier works, giving them new energy in a new context."

— Lieve Dierckx, PZAZZ

dates

Tue June 24 8:30 PM

Wed June 25 7:00 PM

prices

  • default € 25
  • CJP/student/scholar € 15

information

  • Language no problem

  • 1 hour (zonder pauze)

Marc Vanrunxt on the creative process of Freie Form, December 2023


"As always during a rehearsal process, uninvited spirits wandered into the dance studio once again. Pina and Martha are pretty much always there — as are Mary and Rudolf. They are certainly welcome. But this time, even living entities came to visit. Because I enjoy speaking with dancers about their past work and experience, Samantha and I often talked about Thomas Hauert and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker — two choreographers with whom she spent most of her dance life. We mostly discussed their different approaches and working methods. Before we resumed rehearsals, I would open the window for a moment, just to let all the spirits out again.


While working on Freie Form, many of the dancers for and with whom I once created solos also came to mind. In this way, echoes of my earlier work have now entered this new creation — something I truly enjoyed welcoming and allowing to happen. Kitty Kortes Lynch, Marie De Corte, Etienne Guilloteau, Jan Martens, Rob Fordeyn, Eva Kamala Rodenburg, Truus Bronkhorst, Lise Vachon, and Bahar Temiz have all left their traces in me and in my work.


Although Samantha and I started with a blank page on day one, and Freie Form is entirely new and made especially with and for her, we still found ourselves drifting into the shadow realm of our imagination — also through Els Mondelaers’ composition. Yoko Ono and Morton Feldman have by now become familiar presences we’ve welcomed back once more."

  • Freie Form

    Raymond Mallentjer

  • Els Mondelaers - musician

  • Freie Form

    Raymond Mallentjer

  • Freie Form

    Raymond Mallentjer

  • Freie Form

    Raymond Mallentjer

  • Freie Form

    Raymond Mallentjer

  • Freie Form

    Raymond Mallentjer

  • Samantha van Wissen - dancer

Credits

idea Marc Vanrunxt choreography Marc Vanrunxt in close collaboration with Samantha van Wissen, Igor Shyshko dance Samantha van Wissen co-choreography Igor Shyshko music Els Mondelaers light design Stef Alleweireldt technical realisation Stef Alleweireldt sound direction Sandor Caron production Kunst/Werk residence STUK co-financing Perpodium with support from de Vlaamse Gemeenschap