In this research, Zoe Demoustier questions from her practice as a choreographer and a dancer what dance repertoire, and more specifically the work that emerged from the so-called ‘Flemish Wave’, means for younger generations today.
The project focuses on the legacy of influential choreographers such as Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Wim Vandekeybus, Alain Platel etcetera, who played a crucial role in the development of the contemporary dance landscape in Flanders.
The core themes of this research are the embodied transfer and critical rethinking of dance repertoire through innovative choreographic methodologies that reinterpret existing material in collaboration with new and diverse generations of dancers.
The artistic approach of this project is to reinterpret the work of pioneers by establishing a dialogue between their old choreographies and younger generations of dancers with diverse profiles (in terms of age, education, or background).
The aim is to facilitate intergenerational encounters and enrich the transmission of movement vocabulary through the dancers’ personal and reflective transformation of the material. The aim is, on the one hand, to explore the extent to which existing methods aimed at the transmission of established repertoires leave space for new additions by dancers from diverse backgrounds and bodies, and, on the other hand, to develop new approaches that enable just this re-actualization of the repertoire.
With this research, Zoe aims to critically question the canonical status of the ‘Flemish Wave’ through a dialogue between different generations. This setup not only fundamentally enriches her interest in the body as a medium for the transmission of dance, but also engages with broader debates concerning the sustainability of dance heritage by developing new approaches to repertoire and archiving.