not standing / Alexander Vantournhout - Nimble

With Nimble, Not Standing presents its largest creation to date. Nine dancers form a contemporary corps de ballet and explore the power of physical group rhythm. With a focus on the lower body, stemming from Alexander Vantournhout’s fascination with the footwork of boxers, Nimble establishes a place that normally escapes attention.

In Nimble, Not Standing places its body art on a large stage and investigates how space can be added as an extra dimension. How does a collective body, consisting of nine individuals, move through space? The dancers remain in constant motion, alternating rhythms and surrendering themselves to the tension between the collective and the individual.

Not Standing / Alexander Vantournhout 

Not Standing was founded by choreographer Alexander Vantournhout.

Alexander Vantournhout (Brussels, 1989) studied cyr wheel and juggling at ESAC (Ecole Supérieure des Arts du Cirque) and contemporary dance at P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) in Brussels.

Alexander Vantournhout's physical language has been influenced by his varied education and diverse working circumstances. However, it is also marked by two constants: his search for the creative and kinetic potential in physical limitations, and the relationship or boundary between performer and object.

2014 marked the premiere of his first piece, Caprices, a choreographic solo set to the music of Sciarrino. Aneckxander (2015), a second solo, co-created with Bauke Lievens, won the CircusNext Prize,  the Young Theatre Prize and the Audience Prize at Theater Aan Zee (Ostend, 2015) and was selected by the Aerowaves network. Raphaël, a second co-creation with Bauke Lievens followed in 2017.

In 2018, Alexander Vantournhout created La Rose en Céramique, a movement solo that accompanied Scali Delpeyrat's theatrical solo at the Avignon Festival the same year. Shortly after that, Vantournhout began to explore the dynamics underlying a male quartet in Red Haired Men. In SCREWS, created in 2019, Alexander Vantournhout accompanied by 4 dancer-acrobats, guided the audience, on a journey through micro-performances, ranging from short solos and duets to group choreographies.

With Through the Grapevine (2020), Alexander Vantournhout returned to the duet format inspired by the reverberations of his previous work Aneckxander (2015). The body was reintroduced in a very pure way and the performance delved into the creative and kinetic potential of physical limitations, a theme that is reflected throughout Alexander Vantournhout's work. In Contre-jour (2021) for the first time, Alexander Vantournhout did not perform on stage himself but gave the floor to a group of five performers from various backgrounds: dance, musical, theatre, circus, etc. 

In 2022, VanThorhout premiered a solo performance in which Alexander Vantournhout questions the stereotypical forms of masculinity through the mythological figure of Thor. This was followed in the summer of 2023 by Foreshadow, a group piece for eight performers in which a wall serves as a dance partner. In October 2024, every_body, a duet about everyday movements, premiered, and in June 2025, the site-specific group piece Frames came to life. 

Aneckxander (2015) as well as Screws (2020), Through the Grapevine (2021), VanThorhout (2022) and Foreshadow (2023) were selected for Het TheaterFestival, which celebrates the most exceptional Belgian performances. In addition to his live performances, he has ventured into the realm of dance films, creating Screws & Stones (2019) and Snakearms (2021), the latter of which earned accolades at Het TheaterFestival, NY Segal Film Festival, and Cinedans Festival Amsterdam.

Alexander Vantournhout is artist-in-residence at the Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER in Ghent, associate artist at CENTQUATRE in Paris and cultural ambassador of the city of Roeselare. Alexander Vantournhout is supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation for the development of his projects.

"Alexander Vantournhout's work is so ingenious that it is impossible to describe. In just a few years, Alexander Vantournhout has developed a unique choreographic language that draws on techniques from dance, martial arts, circus, yoga, anatomy and the animal world.”