J O U R N E Y
A man and a woman are on stage. Two dancers, two generations. Koen is a
31-year-old choreographer and performer, Alphea an 87-year-old dancer
and pedagogue.
In J O U R N E Y they probe the borders, push back boundaries. It is a
performance about being here – now; about the strength of the human body.
Together they bridge the gap between young and old, and 60 years of dance
history, in a balancing act between wanting and being able to. These two
people share a dream: to go on dancing to the end of their days.
Koen De Preter had wanted to work with older performers for several years.
In the realization that the elderly are conspicuously underrepresented in our
streetscape and on stage, he set out to question the modern-day obsession
with youth. When he met Alphea Pouget in Provence in 2010, he was
instantly infatuated with her stage presence and the furrows in her skin. He
knew that she was the person he was looking for.
When you two danced
Oh what a dance
When you two laughed
Oh what a laugh
Has he mentioned my age love?
THE KNIFE, Pass this on
J O U R N E Y brings two generations closer.
Choreography Koen De Preter
Dance Alphea Pouget & Koen De Preter
Dramaturgy Annette van Zwoll
Lighting and scenography Klaar Vermeulen
Soundtrack Koen De Preter & Tom Herteweg
Costumes Elisabeth Kinn Svensson
Production Manager Jana Debruyne
Distribution Vincent Van den Bossche
Executive producers Koen De Preter & Klein Verzet
Coproduction Kunstencentrum Vooruit Ghent, C-Mine Cultuurcentrum Genk
and TAKT Neerpelt
With the support of the Flemish government, CDC Les Hivernales Avignon,
Vélo Théâtre Apt, Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek Brussels, ccBe Berchem
and 30CC Leuven
Koen De Preter (1981, Antwerp) is a dance-maker and performer. Working
with the Antwerp theatre collective unm, he recently created the acclaimed
site-specific project The House That Built Us for the Zomer van Antwerpen.
In 2011 he made While things can change with the multitalented Maria
Ibarretxe from the Basque Country. The show was short-listed for Circuit X, a
quality label for young talent, and performed at Het Theaterfestival in
Brussels.
In 2010 Koen made a duet entitled Sometimes it’s there with the Swede
Ulrika Kinn Svensson, which was selected for the Aerowaves 2011 European
tour and Dansclick 12 in the Netherlands. He also made a number of
creations under the wing of fABULEUS (Leuven), including the internationally
successful We dance to forget with Maria Ibarretxe which is still on tour in
Europe.
As a dancer Koen has worked for several international companies and
choreographers, including Raimund Hoghe (Brussels/Bruges), Sasha Waltz &
Guests (Berlin), Fanny & Alexander (Ravenna), T.R.A.S.H. (Tilburg), Keren Levi
(Groningen) and United-C (Eindhoven). He trained at the Fontys Dance
Academy in Tilburg.
Alphea Pouget (1925, Lullea) has been a dance pedagogue and dancer since
the age of eighteen. Born in Swedish Lapland, she now lives in an idyllic
village in the South of France. She trained in classical dance at the Opéra de
Paris under Léo Staats and in modern dance in Stockholm under Birgit
Akeson, a student of Mary Wigman. In 1954 she moved to Paris to teach and
married Marcel Pouget, a Nouvelle Figuration painter. Later on she had her
own dance studio in the city. François Verret, now a famous French
choreographer, was one of her students. In the 1970s she moved to Bremen
to help set up the Bildertheater, an international school for dance and
theatre. She also performed at the Theater Labor there in a production by
Georges Tabori. Later on she moved to Cannes to teach at the Centre
International de Danse. She is still teaching and giving workshops in Paris,
Marseille, Berlin and Hamburg. She recently began creating her own work
again and dancing in the work of others (e.g. Roberte Léger and Barbara
Sarreau).
For further information, go to: http://www.koendepreter.com
alphea pouget 