Graduates take stage: JARDÍN

STUK welcomes the graduating generation of dancers and choreographers from the Antwerp Conservatory. We present the graduation project of the 3rd Bachelor Dance. Last June, they created JARDÍN in collaboration with the Spanish choreographer Iván Pérez.

JARDÍN is a metaphor for the power of this group and its individuals. Starting from the understanding that community requires participation and presence, the performers commit to their journey with verve. Moving towards an inevitable departure, they work with ideas of cooperation, inter-dependence and risk, challenged by an ever-present destabilising force. Together, they create a space that breathes both vulnerability and strength.
Come and discover the fresh energy of the creative process by the talent of tomorrow!

The Bachelor Dance programme of the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp is a creative environment where passionate teaching and performing artists, from diverse contemporary dance practices, inspire young dancers to define their own identity as a dance artist. They empower students to develop creative, performative and reflective skills to become open-minded, engaged dance artists.

Since September 2018, the Spanish choreographer Iván Pérez has been the artistic director of Dance Theatre Heidelberg (DTH). Within Dance Theatre Heidelberg, Pérez creates multidisciplinary big scale works, promotes new choreographic voices and develops communities around dance. With his choreographic work he aims to create contemplative and emotional experiences, advocating for a more humane reality.

Pérez is a former member of the Netherlands Dance Theater, where he also made his choreographic debut in 2011. Since then, he has made new works for companies such as the Paris Opera Ballet, Balletboyz, Ballet Moscow, Compañía Nacional de Danza and Dance Forum Taipei amongst others. Between 2012 and 2016 he was associate choreographer of the Dutch production house Korzo. In 2016 he founded his own company INNE in the Netherlands under which umbrella he created several commissioned works.

Originally from Alicante, Spain, Iván started dancing at the Professional Conservatory of his hometown. He eventually moved to Madrid to continue his studies of choreography and interpretation techniques at the University Rey Juan Carlos. Over the years Iván has received numerous awards for both his dancing and his choreography in Spain and Germany.

Credits
Choreography and direction: Iván Pérez
Choreographic assistance: Renan Martins
Created with and performed by: Ella-My Blomdahl, Laure de Dietrich, Mei Li Dong Paez, Nathan Felix, Louka Gailliez, Kika Ilegems, Marta Jamsja, Lentle Tolkatchev, Mira Slootmaekers, Luca Tomaselli
Also created with: Martin Boyer, Rebecca de Toro-Garland Garcia, Julia Kosalka
Music: Dj Bamboo
Tracks and samples: Internal War - Antonio Sánchez; The Anxious Battle for Sanity - Antonio Sanchez; La Bayadere: Andantino - Ludwig Minkus, played by Sofia National Opera Orchestra & Boris Spassov; Bloodstream by The Necks.
Original lighting design: Sylvia Cuyken
Styling costumes: Chris Snik
Artistic Assistance: Yasemin Kandemir, Karel Tuytschaever
Created in the framework of the Bachelor Dance 2022-2023 at AP Hogeschool / Royal Conservatory Antwerp