Opera Ballet Vlaanderen at the Avignon Festival
Thu, Mar 24, 2022
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen has been invited to the Festival d'Avignon with a new work by choreographer Jan Martens, which will be presented on the famous Cour d'honneur. It is the first time in its history that the company has been selected for this prestigious festival and it has been thirty-eight years since a ballet company was allowed to perform at the Cour d'honneur at the Avignon Festival.
The choreographer Jan Martens creates FUTUR PROCHE, a world creation for fifteen dancers, two children and harpsichordist Goska Isphording. In FUTUR PROCHE, Jan Martens continues his research into choreographing on contemporary compositions for harpsichord, as he did previously in his solo ELISABETH GETS HER WAY and his first major production 'Any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones'. The latter production was already a guest in Avignon last year, but FUTUR PROCHE will now be performed in the place of honour that is the Cour d'honneur.
"People often only know the harpsichord as a Baroque instrument," says Jan Martens. "But the compositions chosen for FUTUR PROCHE show that the repertoire is indeed renewing itself and positioning itself self-confidently in the 21st century. The instrument arms itself for the future and therefore connects to the theme I want to talk about in FUTUR PROCHE: how do we reinvent ourselves now that, as a Western world, we are beginning to see the cracks in our self-evident inviolability and wealth?"
The choreographer Jan Martens creates FUTUR PROCHE, a world creation for fifteen dancers, two children and harpsichordist Goska Isphording. In FUTUR PROCHE, Jan Martens continues his research into choreographing on contemporary compositions for harpsichord, as he did previously in his solo ELISABETH GETS HER WAY and his first major production 'Any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones'. The latter production was already a guest in Avignon last year, but FUTUR PROCHE will now be performed in the place of honour that is the Cour d'honneur.
"People often only know the harpsichord as a Baroque instrument," says Jan Martens. "But the compositions chosen for FUTUR PROCHE show that the repertoire is indeed renewing itself and positioning itself self-confidently in the 21st century. The instrument arms itself for the future and therefore connects to the theme I want to talk about in FUTUR PROCHE: how do we reinvent ourselves now that, as a Western world, we are beginning to see the cracks in our self-evident inviolability and wealth?"
With Jan Martens and FUTUR PROCHE, a new chapter begins for Opera Ballet Flanders. Martens is one of three choreographers invited by artistic director Jan Vandenhouwe to work as associate choreographer with the dancers of our company. "In this way, we continue to put the talent of our classically trained dancers on the world map", says Vandenhouwe. The fact that we are allowed to have our world premiere at the Festival d'Avignon says a lot about the international confidence in the quality of our company and the artists we work with."
FUTUR PROCHE will be performed in DE SINGEL and Opera Gent in the autumn and will then go on an international tour.
The production will have its world premiere in Avignon on Tuesday 19 July and can still be seen on 20, 21, 23 and 24 July 2022.
More information: www.festival-avignon.com