Anneleen Keppens - Movement Essays
Movement Essays is an encounter with dancer and choreographer Anneleen Keppens. Inspired by the essay in the tradition of writer Michel de Montaigne, she presents three ‘movement essays’, that each place a fundamental aspect of abstract choreography at the centre and, at the same time, trigger associations, emotions and reflections beyond the field of dance.
In the essay On Tempo, Anneleen tries to make tempo visible and explores the relationship it has with emotion, genre, story and meaning. With On Shape she enters into a dialogue with the sculptural aspect of dance, with what shapes can potentially suggest and the impossibility of shapelessness. In I am large – I contain multitudes she explores the diverse movement qualities with which she can dance and fully embraces the plurality of her body.
Anneleen brings the atmosphere of the studio, where she asks questions, wonders, is surprised and discovers connections, to the stage. She doesn’t want to convince you of a point of view, but rather involve you in her artistic process. The three movement essays are connected through their passionate exploration of movement and together create an intimate and diverse experience of dance.
Anneleen Keppens studied at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp and at PARTS in Brussels. She works as a choreographer, dancer, artistic collaborator and teacher in Belgium and abroad.
In 2016, Anneleen started her research project Transparency in Abstract Dance. This research was the base for her first creation The moon is the moon is the moon, which premiered in October 2017. She is currently working on her next creation, the solo performance Movement Essays, which will premiere in October 2019.
Anneleen works with choreographer Daniel Linehan/Hiatus since 2012. She danced in his productions Gaze is a Gap is a Ghost, The Sun Came, The Karaoke Dialogues, dbddbb, Flood and Un sacre du printemps. Together with Linehan, she performed at the Tate Live Performance Room of Tate Modern, and she accompanied several editions of the social-artistic project Vita Activa. Currently, she is working with Linehan on his next creation sspeciess, which will premiere in January 2020.
In 2014 Anneleen danced in Rétrospective by Xavier Le Roy at Centre Pompidou in Paris. From 2014 to 2016 she toured with Drumming, the repertoire piece by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (Rosas).
Anneleen is an often invited outside-eye for other choreographers’ work and she is the choreographic assistant of Alexander Vantournhout. She is a certified Somatic Movement Educator and has experience in teaching improvisation and composition classes at PARTS SummerSchool and Artesis Hogeschool Antwerp amongst others.