Martens / De Keersmaeker / Brown

Three generations, three choreographers, each having followed their own path, but who nevertheless built upon each other’s work, in more than one respect. In a perfect dialectic, they each in their own way reconcile reverence for music with equally exalted dance, rules with freedom, abstraction with recognisability, and virtuosity with minimalism.

In her iconic Twelve Ton Rose, Trisha Brown, after several decades as one of the world’s leading figures in postmodern dance, found her match in the concentrated music of Anton Webern. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, one of her admirers, would, in turn, irrevocably claim a place in the sanctum sanctorum of the Flemish dance canon with her early piece Fase, to compositions by Steve Reich. Jan Martens, an ardent fan of both, created one of the most breath-taking choreographies of recent years with his fearless and frenetic ON SPEED in 2021. The clear lines of composer Graciela Paraskevaídis inspired him to choreograph the world-premiering creation of the evening: GRACIELA QUINTET.