Book cover Alain Platel - Een tachtiger die zeventig wordt © EPO Publishers
Book launch Alain Platel ‘Een tachtiger die zeventig wordt’
At the threshold of his seventies, Alain Platel looks back on his own career and the developments in the performing arts.
De ‘tachtigers’ or 'the eighties generation.' That is the name given to the Flemish artists who, from the 1980s onwards, thoroughly redrew the performing arts landscape far beyond its borders. One of the best-known members of the eighties is director Alain Platel. Now that he is turning seventy, he looks at the evolution of the landscape and reflects on his own career. How social shifts resonated in his work, how the outside world entered into the rehearsal studio and presented itself, uninvited, as a co-player in his performances. Why did he become who he is, one of our best-known and most successful choreographers? The man with no training as a dancer, actor or theatre maker, the man with no ambition to pursue a career? He wrote down his reflections in a book about his performances, about politics in the arts and about Gaza. But perhaps most of all about creation.
On Thursday 30 April, we will launch his book in collaboration with EPO Publishers. Journalist Anna Luyten will interview Alain Platel, following a contribution in response to the book by dancer Louis Thuriot and Barbara Raes, artistic director and artist at NTGent—relatives from two different generations in the performing arts.
The book will be available for purchase at the launch - with thanks to BarBóék.
Practical
➤ The presentation is the first time the book will be on sale, with the possibility of signing - thanks to Barbóék.
➤Between the book presentation and the performance, soup will be available in the theatre foyer.
Combine with the performance by Alain Platel
On 28, 29 and 30 April, Alain Platel's Out of Context - for Pina will be performed as part of the Body of Work programme at the Schouwburg of 30CC. On Thursday 30 April, you can combine the book presentation with the performance!
© Chris Van der Burght
Belgian director and choreographer Alain Platel studied orthopedagogy and is a self-taught director. In 1984, he founded a collective with friends and family members that later became known as les ballets C de la B. Since the creation of Stabat Mater (1984), it has developed into one of Europe's leading dance companies. Platel often collaborates with artists from different backgrounds, including composers Fabrizio Cassol and Steven Prengels, (musical) director Frank Van Laecke and visual artist Berlinde De Bruyckere. In his work, he explores all forms of suffering and struggle, contrasting them with joy and dignity, and focuses on the moving human being and the beauty of the deviant, damaged body. Platel has received several awards, including the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities (2001) and the Flemish Culture Prize for General Cultural Merit (2015).
© Mark David
Louis Thuriot began dancing at the age of sixteen and obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Dance at Codarts Rotterdam. He subsequently danced with Club Guy and Roni, TanzMainz and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, where he collaborated with choreographers including Rafaële Giovanola, Sharon Eyal, Roy Assaf and Jan Martens. He was also part of Alain Platel’s most recent work, Ombra, at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen. In 2024, he decided to go freelance in order to further develop his own artistic voice as a choreographer. For the Nationaltheater Mannheim, he created Quick Wash, a piece about gender inequality. He is currently performing on stage himself with his latest creation, RAKKE, a duet with his mother Patricia George, in which dance and live accordion come together.
© Beyond The Spoken
Barbara Raes worked in the performing arts from 2000 to 2014 as programmer and artistic director of Kunstencentrum Vooruit and BUDA. With Beyond the Spoken, founded in 2016, she develops rituals around loss and transition and positions herself at the intersection of art, care, and rituals. Since 2023, she has been part of the artistic management of NTGent.
Location
Price
free or support ticket (€5)
Registration required via the ticket button above
