laGeste – Dancephere

January 24th – 25th, 2025 Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER, Ghent
Duration: unknown

Care, Romance, Fluid Identity and Fantasy

O amor natural goes beyond the binary codes of yes and no and explores consent in all its non-verbal richness: whispers, body temperature, breathing, gaze and speed of movement weave a web of intimacy. The concept of consent raises many questions about care practices, but also about sexual and artistic practices. How do we know and how do we communicate what we do and do not want? On what basis can we consent to a practice that is still foreign to us?

For people with disabilities, touch is often associated with a medical act, as if their bodies are objects to be manipulated and moved without regard to their physical and emotional needs, in a relationship that is necessarily devoid of any sensuality. O amor natural is about giving ourselves the chance to express the complexity of touch in our relationships, where we often only allow ourselves to conceive of touch in a medical or sexualised relationship.

FIND OUT MORE

Between Despair and Mildness

‘Never was a shade of a tree so lovely…’, it says in Händel’s famous aria Ombra mai fu. Alain Platel and visual artist Berlinde De Bruyckere take inspiration from the shade of a tree as a meeting place, as a place where people all over the world and throughout history come together to rest, meet or discuss problems. De Bruyckere’s poetic world of images seems to share a kinship with Platel’s universe.

After the overwhelming success of C(H)OEURS 2022, Platel once again invites the chorus members, dancers and orchestral musicians of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen to join a creative dialogue. Together with singer and performer TK Russell and guest choreographers Mélanie Lomoff and Luis Marrafa, they create the performance Ombra. Composer Steven Prengels is developing a new orchestral score in which he interweaves well-known classical masterpieces by the likes of Händel, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven into new layers of meaning.