'Amor Fati' is a two-part concept. The word 'Amor' means love, and 'Fati' means fate. Love can be both soothing and disruptive. It can provide security or come across as frightening.
Dancer/choreographer Isabelle Beernaert reviewed her own life and tested it against Nietzsche's philosophy and the eight types of love according to Greek philosophy: Eros (passionate love), Philia (friendly love), Agape (selfless love), Storge (familial love), Mania (obsessive love), Ludus (playful love), Pragma (practical love) and Philautia (self-love). During the rehearsal period, she also had her dancers contribute their experiences through improvisations. All of this crystallized into successive songs/tableaux in which the various aspects of love are addressed.
Stage Image
The performance plays with an open curtain. The backdrop shows a warm color palette with sand, terra and orange/red tones. The soothing sounds of a bass guitar and oboe fill the space. It feels like drifting in the mother's womb, the womb of Mother Earth. A projected text invites reflection and stillness: "Here you will calm your soul. Here we are at home and will find the comfort you seek. Here you will be healed again". A quarter of an hour before the performance begins, as the auditorium gradually fills with audience members, the dancers present themselves in a calm manner, one by one. They walk calmly to the middle of the stage, sit for a few minutes, eye to eye with the audience, and then disappear again.
Musical Powerhouse
The beautiful music in a broad palette featuring compositions by G.F. Händel, J.S. Bach, Jeff Neve, Pietro Mascagni, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, Chi Coltrane and others, instrumental and sung, touches you to your deepest core like a soundboard of the human soul. It was an aha moment. It remains a mystery how emotional and musical currents reach an audience. Isabelle Beernaert personally selected the songs but entrusted the arrangements to Kristiaan Deruytter (stage name Kristo) and Nicolas Thys. Kristo is a multi-instrumentalist, but plays mainly electric guitar and piano here. He also possesses a powerful and beautiful voice that he uses with as much empathy and fluidity as his instruments. His musical maturity testifies to purity and moderation. A unique universe. The spirituality in the music also speaks volumes. The music has structure, but doesn't impose itself. It is full of fine nuances. It accumulates, but in a quiet way and carries meditative impulses within it. With extraordinary skill, he shapes the songs in a wonderful harmony. The compositions are rich in detail, atmosphere and vibrating power. Inspired music that makes you completely zen. He is assisted by double bass and bass guitarist Nicolas Thijs and Taiko percussionist Bert Gits. With their live playing, they form the beating heart of the performance and guide the choreography towards greater depth and emotional intensity.
Kaleidoscope
Scenographically and visually, there is a search for balance between the music and the dance. The instrumentalists are part of the whole, appearing and disappearing again. The large back wall also slides apart and becomes modular, repositioned in different positions for each song or piece of music. The warm colors from the beginning transition to gray and broken white tones but come alive again towards the end. Five male dancers and three female dancers give their best. Each dancer gets the opportunity to solo. In addition, there are numerous duets of attraction and repulsion and beautiful synchronized ensembles.
For J.S. Bach's centuries-old composition 'Air', the entire ensemble performs a fresh, playful dance. Impressive is the intermezzo with taiko percussionist Bert Gits accompanied by Kristo and Nicolas Thijs, where the dancers perform an exuberant physical, almost ritualistic dance. They then collapse exhausted. Smoke is produced. Their bodies seem to steam with exertion. They then disappear into the wisps of smoke. Beautiful and impressive at the same time. It evokes our transience. Also skillful is the scene in which three walls are pushed towards each other. Who doesn't know the expression 'the walls are closing in on me!' and a man emotionally loses control. He is approached gently and tactilely by another man. That he is not alone, that there are shoulders to lean on, gradually lifts him up. Tenderness, selfless love takes on a face here. Seduction is addressed in a refined piece of tango.
In this performance, Isabelle Beernaert demonstrates stylistic versatility and has sharpened her expressive potential. Technically, the dancers display a full palette ranging from tenderness to breathtaking acrobatics. The intensity of the music does something to you. It wraps a warm blanket around the world.
Yet one point of criticism. At the end, the dancers present themselves one by one and receive well-deserved applause. But no, the performance is not yet over. On a dark stage, the grand piano is rolled out surrounded by lights. Kristo plays and sings one last song 'Help me through the night' by Gladys Knight while the dancers one by one take a light and disappear into the auditorium. It's beautiful in itself, but too much of a good thing!
