Rosas

From 13 March onwards Rosas takes back Achterland on its repertory. Achterland was created in 1990 by choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and will be danced again for the first time in 20 years.
 
Achterland is a seminal choreography in Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s oeuvre. In this 1990 performance, for the first time, the choreographer gave the musicians a central position on stage and let them play an active role in the overall dynamic — an approach she would repeat in many subsequent projects. The unusual combination of György Ligeti’s and Eugène Ysaÿe’s music inspired De Keersmaeker and her dancers to create an original dance score with a delicate balance between energetic virtuosity and deceleration. This also was the choreographer’s first time writing dancing material specifically for men; she added three male dancers to what until that point had been a predominantly female company. In Achterland, the prevalent femininity and minimalism of several of Rosas’s earlier works gave way to an ambiguous no-man’s-land characterized by a blurring of boundaries and symbols.
 
"After more theatrical performances like Stella and Ottone Ottone, I wanted, with Achterland, to return to a pure dance language, one that relates to the virtuoso music of Ligeti and Ysaÿe. The presence of the musicians on the stage allows the music and choreography to be brought closer together." 
- Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
 
The last tour of Achterland was in 1998, exactly 20 years ago. This revival will be performed by a new generation of Rosas dancers who danced last seasons in repertoire performances like Rain, A Love Supreme, Zeitigung and Rosas danst Rosas. The music will be performed live by (alternately) the pianists Wilhem Latchoumia or Joonas Ahonen and violinists Juan María Braceras or Naaman Sluchin.

The performance will première on 13 and 14 March 2018 in Brugge’s Concertgebouw and will then go on its international tour.