Michèle Anne De Mey . Tonkünstler-Orchester . Ayrton Desimpelaere

Even the dog is back again: Belgian dance pioneer Michèle Anne De Mey and her company Astragales revive a personal milestone with Sinfonia Eroïca. In a playground, with a button lift and ball games, De Mey tells a story of loneliness and belonging, of men and women, of couples and groups who find each other and then part again with playful ease. The choreography, first performed in 1990, with which De Mey caused an international sensation, occupies a constant exchange with Ludwig van Beethoven’s emotional Third Symphony, the Eroica, which explores the nature of heroism and the tradition of dance music: with influences ranging from ballet to Hungarian verbunkos dance. Performed by the Tonkunstler Orchestra conducted by Ayrton Desimpelaere and supplemented by the overture from Bastien und Bastienne, an early Mozart singspiel, the music is a celebration of pathos that offers an attractive contrast to choreography filled with lightness and innocence. With this Re-Creation, Michele Anne De Mey follows in her own footsteps and reconstructs her original creative process afresh. As a choreography about the dynamics of human relationships, after the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic it took on a new dimension for De Mey. With its new cast, other dancers have taken ownership of the choreography and interpret it in their own way: an interaction has developed, placing bodies in new relationships with each other, but whose references to the existing choreography also make a 30-year exploration of the Sinfonia Eroïca present within the space. The result is an evening of danced and undanced moments, of effervescent music and silence that generates an infectious energy.