“De Keersmaeker appears to be entirely lost in her own world, yet speaking directly to each person in the room. It’s a luminous and touching performance.” — The Australian
“Action is the antidote to despair.” —Joan Baez
See a modern master at the height of her career—a dance highlight of the season.
Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker is deservedly regarded as one of the most important talents to emerge in Europe in the last two decades. Since the early 1980s, her particular genius has been the creation of refreshingly original contributions to contemporary dance that are intricately refined, inherently edgy, and always extraordinary. Her last Minnesota appearance was 1999’s brilliantly physical Drumming, based on the composition by Steve Reich and performed with her company Rosas (company-in-residence of Brussels’ Royal Opera De Munt/Theatre La Monnaie). Once, her first-ever solo, will be seen in the United States only in Minneapolis and New York. This special Walker presentation is a rare opportunity to see a precise, evocative, and deeply felt performance by a woman who has changed the face of dance on two continents.
In 1967, De Keersmaeker was given the LP Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2. Though she didn’t understand the lyrics as a child, she was moved by the delicate melodies and haunting voice of the singer. Once imbues Baez’s original Vietnam-era antiwar message with new power in this time of global conflict. Set to the album in its entirety, the work juxtaposes the insurgent poetry of the lyrics with the seductive austerity of contemporary European dance. The result is a tender, lovingly choreographed clash of pure motion and emotion.
