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NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
“For more than 40 years, Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has been the queen of visionary rigour; her austere remaking of dance has inspired an entire contemporary movement. You don’t necessarily go to a work by her expecting entertainment, but you are likely to emerge provoked.” – The Guardian
ABOUT THE WORK
Legendary choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker returns to NYU Skirball with EXIT ABOVE, a bold exploration of movement, rhythm, and musicality. Set to a driving score inspired by the roots of Western pop music, the blues, this hypnotic work transforms walking into a mesmerizing act of dance. De Keersmaeker’s signature precision meets raw, unfiltered energy as dancers move in a relentless, rhythmic flow. Past and present collide in this exhilarating fusion of dance and live music, where every step becomes a pulse of momentum. Don’t miss this masterwork from one of the most influential choreographers of our time.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
In 1980, after studying dance at Mudra School in Brussels and Tisch School of the Arts in New York, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (b. 1960) created Asch, her first choreographic work. Two years later came the premiere of Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich. De Keersmaeker established the dance company Rosas in Brussels in 1983, while creating the work Rosas danst Rosas. Since these breakthrough pieces, her choreography has been grounded in a rigorous and prolific exploration of the relationship between dance and music. She has created with Rosas a wide-ranging body of work engaging the musical structures and scores of several periods, from early music to contemporary and popular idioms. Her choreographic practice also draws formal principles from geometry, numerical patterns, the natural world, and social structures to offer a unique perspective on the body’s articulation in space and time. In 1995 De Keersmaeker established the school P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) in Brussels in association with De Munt/La Monnaie.
CREATIVE CREDITS
Choreography Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Created with and Danced by Abigail Aleksander, Jean Pierre Buré, Lav Crnčević, José Paulo dos Santos, Rafa Galdino, Carlos Garbin, Nina Godderis, Solal Mariotte, Meskerem Mees, Mariana Miranda, Ariadna Navarrete Valverde, Cintia Sebők, Jacob Storer
Also danced by Pierre Bastin, Niklas Capel, Nathan Felix-Rivot, Yuika Hashimoto, Robson Ledesma, Margarida Ramalhete
Music Meskerem Mees, Jean-Marie Aerts, Carlos Garbin
Music performed by Meskerem Mees, Carlos Garbin
Scenography Michel François
Light design Max Adams
Costume design Aouatif Boulaich
Text and Lyrics Meskerem Mees, Wannes Gyselinck
Dramaturgy Wannes Gyselinck
Rehearsal Directors Cynthia Loemij, Clinton Stringer
Production Rosas
Coproduction Concertgebouw Brugge (Bruges), De Munt / La Monnaie (Brussels), Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Le théâtre Garonne (Toulouse), GIE FONDOC OCCITANIE (Le Parvis Tarbes, Scène nationale ALBI Tarn, Le Cratère Alès, Scène nationale Grand Narbonne, Théâtre Garonne)
World Premiere 31 May 2023, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Brussels presented by Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, De Munt/ La Monnaie, Kaaitheater and Kunstenfestivaldesarts
These performances are part of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival in New York.
ABOUT DANCE REFLECTIONS
Launched in 2020, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is a program dedicated to dance, whose main goal is supporting creative artists and institutions linked to the world of choreography. In addition, the initiative stages a festival together with international partners each year: the first events took place in London in March 2022, and in Hong Kong in May 2023. For this US edition, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is proud to be collaborating with NYU Skirball and other prestigious New York institutions to showcase the wealth of choreographic creation.
The festival’s program is inspired by the three values of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels: creation, transmission and education. Throughout its several weeks, some 10 performances will offer a panorama of international choreographic creation, interspersed with recent works, and pieces from the repertoire that have gone down in the history of contemporary dance.
SUPPORT
This production is realized with the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, in collaboration with Casa Kafka Pictures.
Rosas is supported by the Flemish Community, and by the Flemish Community Commission (VGC)
This project is made possible in part with support from Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible in part with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation; Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels; Culture Ireland; The Shubert Foundation; Collins Building Services; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA; Goethe Institut New York with support from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; Harkness Foundation for Dance; and Marta Heflin Foundation; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Allies for Arts Access Fund support.
