Works by Alain Platel / les ballets C de la BPerformance Screening

Alain Platel is the Belgian genius who has led the performing arts world with his creative work that transcends the barriers of nationality and genre. Platel’s work illuminates the “other side” of the boundaries that divide us, focusing on things beyond systems and customs, depicting deep human dramas. We have selected four of his recent characteristic works, including the long-awaited re-performance of “Out of Context – for Pina,” to show at the Yokohama Dance Collection 2021. Three of them will be released for the first time in Japan. “This dance is for the world, and the world is for everyone.” — How will we ever overcome the divisions that continue to grow around the world? Platel’s works are sure to give us a glimpse of the keys for imagining and creating the “future” of our shared reality, even if the movement on stage is beyond control

11 :00~ “Coup Fatal” (2014) [Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes]
Thirteen musicians from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, enter in light steps holding blue plastic chairs. The audience is engulfed in a whirlwind of jubilant rhythms by cheerful music and dances that blend Baroque with Congolese pop music, composed by Fabrizio Cassol. Like the sapeurs themselves—the local fashion lovers who chose dandy clothes over weapons—expressing joy with ones whole body overtly and vividly in the face of adversity is one of the strongest forms “resistance.” And through art, which has the power to unite regardless of political standpoint, we might just be able to understand what is going on beyond the bullet shell curtain that divides the stage in two.

13:30~ “Before the last curtain falls” (2014) [Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes]
A team of drag queens in their sixties and seventies who have experienced all sorts of things during their lifetime — love, disappointment, humiliation, joy, self-doubt — and now live quietly in a corner of society, take to the big stage set by Alan Platel and Frank Van Laecke. Standing majestically in the spotlight, what kind of life have they lived, and what thoughts run through their heads?
A behind-the-scenes documentary about “Gardenia,” directed by Tomas Wallner & Eva Kuepper which won praise and ovations in 25 countries across five continents. This story of six fascinating performers will fill you with the courage to take risks, keep trying new things and to live your own life, no matter how old you are.

15:30~ “Out of Context – for Pina” (2010) [Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes]
Convulsive, out of control movements. Strangely distorted physicality. Raw, unclad urges. Reflecting his experience as a therapeutic nurse, Alain Platel’s choreographic language emotionally shakes the values of all who experience this piece. What is “abnormal” and what is “normal”? Is “dance” only dance with intention?
The nine dancers on a stage stripped of all large-scale art, costumes, and live music — one of Platel’s signature characteristics — combine extraordinary technique, intense individuality, and charming distortion, for a performance you won’t be able to take your eyes off of. Once again, after ten years since its premiere, he presents the masterpiece that continues to develop, in praise of the beloved choreographer Pina Bausch.

17:30~ “nicht schlafen” (2016) [Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes]
A major work that tries to find the one ray of hope in a catastrophe. Using composer Gustav Mahler’s symphony as the starting point of his creation, he combines the late 19th and early 20th century, a period of upheaval and confusion, to depict the way human beings as a group transcend identity differences: male/female, black/white, Jewish/Arab, dancer/singer, and so on. Relationships constantly change, colliding with and supporting each other all along the way. In a desolate land where three dead horses lie, dance embodies a thirst for life and a longing for lost harmony. The stage is set by contemporary artist Berlinde de Bruyckere.