Alain Platel, (°1956, Ghent), is trained as ortho-pedagogue and is self-taught as a director. In 1984, together with a number of friends and family members, he founded a group that operates as a collective. Since the creation of Stabat Mater (1984) to the music of Scarlatti, Les ballets C de la B - as the group was called in the meantime - developed into one of Europe's leading dance companies. Alain Platel often collaborates with artists from different backgrounds, including the late opera director Gerard Mortier, composers Fabrizio Cassol and Steven Prengels, writer and director Arne Sierens, (musical) director Frank Van Laecke and visual artist Berlinde De Bruyckere. Like no other, Platel hears and sees the beauty of the ugly, deviant, damaged body and in his work he investigates all forms of suffering and wrestling, against which he juxtaposes joy and dignity. In this way he places the moving human being in the centre, exploring it’s limits and possibilities for these elements to be together.
Function: Artistic practice - creation