On Wednesday evening the three-day online dance festival centred on the company Voetvolk by dancer-choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez and composer/musician Maarten van Cauwenberghe got underway. Three dazzling evenings with six performances. Alongside 'Piano Works Debussy', which Gruwez presents over two evenings together with pianist Claire Chevallier, the programme also features numerous sidekicks, talented dancers with whom Voetvolk has worked before. Klassiek Centraal picked out Lisbeth Gruwez's solo.
Lisbeth Gruwez
This unique dancer has already traced an impressive path. A woman with artistic relevance and swagger. After her training in classical ballet, she found freedom in contemporary dance. She trained with P.A.R.T.S., but with her independent spirit she already went her own way after just one year. She found her artistic direction more at Ultima Vez, the company of Wim Vandekeybus.
In 1999 she chose Jan Fabre. She became something of his muse. The two inspired each other for the productions 'As long as the world needs a warrior's soul', 'Je suis sang' and the much-talked-about solo 'Quando l'uomo principale è una donna', in which she rolls naked in olive oil and turns her androgynous body into a glistening sculpture that slides, spins and whirls across the stage. In this way she became one of Fabre's celebrated 'warriors of beauty'.
But being someone's muse can also become tiresome. A woman with her qualities wants to chart her own course. Lisbeth Gruwez developed into an autonomous dancer/choreographer. Together with sound artist Maarten Van Cauwenberghe, with whom she had already collaborated at Fabre, she founded her own dance company Voetvolk in 2007. Initially she danced herself; afterwards they created, among others, 'It's going to get worse and worse, my friend', 'Lisbeth Gruwez dances Bob Dylan'… In 2018 she showed herself to be a strong choreographer with 'The Sea Within', which premiered at TAZ with a select group of dancers from various continents and with different artistic backgrounds.
The work of Gruwez and Van Cauwenberghe is always based on the dialogue between dance and sound design, always performed live. For the first time in her career, Gruwez now opts for classical music, more specifically the piano music of Claude Debussy. For the Frenchman, the piano was a musical palette. Music makes Lisbeth Gruwez think spatially. In this respect, 'Piano Works Debussy' is a special dialogue between the classical and a contemporary framework. The Franco-Belgian pianist Claire Chevallier is very active as a soloist and in performances with chamber music ensembles or orchestras.
'Piano Works Debussy'
'Piano Works Debussy' is for a dancer and composition full of room for play, challenges and surprises, and culminates in a physical duet between dancer/choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez and pianist Claire Chevallier. Gruwez's explosive body is granted no stillness. On stage she can release her sensual and poetic energy. Compartmentalised thinking is the assassin of aesthetics. It is about evoking tensions. Showing something of the man/woman in a state of longing for love, space, rest, for liberation. Music is abstract. It is a miracle that music in particular appeals so strongly to the heart. A choreography is a victory, rising above doubt and creating clarity.
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nona
The performance platform of arts centre nona, with on either side the balconies adorned with curls and flowers versus the sleek, minimalist décor, with only a beautiful brown grand piano and at the back a golden panel that almost imperceptibly slides away like time over which we have no control, connects two worlds: retro versus modernity. The pianist and dancer are soberly dressed, both wearing dark trousers and a white shirt.
Lisbeth Gruwez takes up position at the front right. She seeks her place in the space. In contrast with the richness of sound, her movements are initially sparse, refined, even fragile. She explores the space mainly through a diagonal play of lines. Sometimes something of the proud posture of Spanish flamenco dancers shines through her bearing. She explores the space in front of her, but also backwards and along the sides. In less than a heartbeat you feel at home in this dazzling spectacle. Her gestures show the stylised precision of a classically trained dancer and a natural, effortless grace. The suppleness in every movement, light-footed and graceful. The elegance of the gestures, in short, a bewitching aura. She is aware of every fibre of her body. She sits calmly down on the floor, then lies down.
The pianist and the music receive all the attention. Occasionally Eastern sounds shimmer through the composition. After some time Gruwez rises, legs raised at forty-five degrees, arms in the air. A floating posture she holds for a while. It looks simple but demands abdominal muscles of steel. She stands upright and draws imaginary lines on the floor. The music turns staccato, which translates into convulsions. In complicity she joins the pianist on the piano stool. Her hands move restlessly over her knees, over her face. A woman who collapses and finds support in the other. Their heads incline towards each other in an intimate and tender moment. A single sharp note catapults her back to the centre of the stage.
Die Pianistin löst sich von ihrem Instrument. Sie lockert ihre Arme und Finger. Gemeinsam drehen sie das Klavier um eine Vierteldrehung, sodass die Pianistin mit dem Rücken zum Publikum sitzt. Gruwez verschwindet hinter dem schräg aufgestellten goldenen Paravent. Die Pianistin steht für eine schwierige, flinkfingrige Passage im Mittelpunkt der Aufmerksamkeit. Als Gruwez wieder erscheint, trägt sie eine goldene Schürze über einem dunklen Hemd. Tänzerin und Pianistin tauschen die Plätze. Gruwez wagt sich an einige Anschläge auf den Tasten, die Pianistin versucht vorsichtig ein paar Tanzschritte. Beide kehren anschließend wieder in ihre ursprüngliche Position zurück.
Die Tanzgeschichte geht weiter: mal vorsichtig tastend in den Bewegungen, dann wieder ausgelassen, den Wechseln in Rhythmus und Klangfarbe der Musik folgend. Inzwischen ist der goldene Paravent zur Mitte hin verschoben worden. Wenn Gruwez vor dem Paneel tanzt, mit ihrem Haarknoten hoch auf dem Kopf, ruft das Ganze einen stilisierten japanischen Holzschnitt in Erinnerung. Kurz darauf erinnert der Tanz an einen Kranich. Sie tritt dem Publikum mit offenem Blick entgegen, während das Licht langsam verglimmt… Ende der Geschichte. „Piano works Debussy“ kurz und bündig beschreiben? Schönheit, die berührt.
- WAS: 3-tägiges Tanzfestival Buitenkant Voetvolk „Piano works Debussy“ – Voetvolk/ Lisbeth Gruwez & Claire Chevallier
- WER: Tanz: Lisbeth Gruwez, Klavier: Claire Chevallier, technische Unterstützung Maarten Van Cauwenberghe
- WO & WANN: Kunstencentrum nona online – 24., 25. und 26. Februar 2021
- FOTOS: © Danny Willems
