Sanderijn Helsen (born 1977) graduated from the acting programme at Studio Herman Teirlinck in 1999.
As an actress, she has worked for Theater Malpertuis, Het Toneelhuis, Barre Weldaad, Zeven/Inne Goris, Music Hall, De Maan, Schippers&Van Gucht/Het Paleis, Action Zoo Humain and Froefroe/De Roovers, among others. She has also played guest roles in various series and films.
Her love of music – Helsen took violin lessons throughout her childhood, later also piano, cello and classical vocal studies – gave rise to the urge to develop her own hybrid form, theatre concerts. With a Music Theatre scholarship, Sanderijn conducted research into the possibilities of spoken text and electronics, together with composer/musician Andrew Claes. This experiment resulted in the creation of her first theatre concert “Stemmen in het bos” (Kc nOna, 2010).
In addition, Sanderijn worked extensively with children and young people in the workshops of theatre companies such as Kopergietery (2002-2014), Bronks (2012-2017), for the Kunstbende (Villanella, 2009), Villanova (De Studio, 2010) and within projects of art education organisation De Veerman (2011-2014). Inspired by the uniqueness of people with autism, she conceived and accompanied a theatre lab for children with this diagnosis (De Veerman & De Leydraad, 2013). She channelled all these artistic and educational experiences into her own theatre workshop Jong Wild (2016-2021, De Studio). In this laboratory for children and young people, which she founded together with Lotte Pinoy, Helsen placed a strong emphasis on ownership and diverse theatrical perspectives. Participants were challenged not only as performers, but also as creators, researchers, designers and inventors.
As resident artist at De Studio, Sanderijn is currently working on a “trilogy for teenagers”. In the first part, “De Puberfluisteraar” (13+), she combined various pillars of her professional career: co-creation with young people, writing, (musical) creation and acting. During extensive preliminary research in the winter of 2022, she visited more than two hundred young people in a psychiatric centre, OKAN classes, organisations for socially vulnerable teenagers and schools with a variety of objectives. Through workshops at all these locations, she asked the adolescents about their utopia, fears, wishes and demons. Based on their eclectic output, Helsen wrote a theatre text about the adolescent brain, coached by a group of ten young people. She staged this text together with electronic artist/actress Leen Diependaele, her teenage coaches and an adult team. In the spring of 2023, “De Puberfluisteraar” premiered at De Studio. The performance then went on a major tour of cultural centres, theatres and festivals.
For the second part, Sanderijn spent several weeks in residence at Het Lab/Hasselt. There she presented the story of the medieval teenager Joan of Arc to 65 young people from diverse backgrounds, to find out whether and how her mission resonates with her contemporary peers. Inspired by their reflections and active participation in the creative brainstorming process, Sanderijn wrote a musical monologue focusing on Jeanne's experience from a perspective that transcends her era. Together with composers/musicians Leen Diependaele and Fiona Brown and a powerful artistic team, Sanderijn translated the inner world of Joan of Arc to the stage, using tools such as electronics, keys, guitar, electric violin, three-part vocal studies and visuals. Jeanne (14+) premiered at De Studio at the end of January 2025, has already been performed at several venues (including the Krokusfestival Hasselt) and will continue touring next season.
After initial research in 2024-2025, in which she made a first attempt at defining and sharing her co-creation methodology, Helsen is currently developing a proposal for a two-year follow-up study, in which the third part of her trilogy for teenagers will feature prominently.
Websites:
blog research De Puberfluisteraar
https://www.destudio.com/nl/project/jeanne
Image: (c) Sofie Silberman