“Treating art as if my life depends on it”
Alexander Vantournhout is an amazing artist, working as a choreographer and leading his own company NOT STANDING, with a choreographic language that draws on dance techniques, martial arts, circus, yoga, anatomy and the animal world.
-You have a really great career, working as a choreographer and leading you own company NOT STANDING. What is the key to your successes?
“Hard work, passion, and treating art as if my life depends on it.
(and having been privileged being born in an upperclass Belgian family)”
-How were you able to develop your artistry as a choreographer?
“I think of myself more as scientist of movement that tries to stage that research … still searching how to develop my artistry in choreographing.”
-How can you define your work?
“Movement, circography & choreography”
-What fascinates you about the connection between circus and dance?
“What makes a movement a movement and not a circustrick? When does dance become circus? What needs to be added to dance, for it to become circus? The object? The interdependency of the partner or the object?”
-How important is, in general, to be curious and open to interdisciplinary connections?
“Not being open to it excludes many interesting forms …
In the beginning of institutionalised performing arts which is only a couple of 100 years ago, everything was mixed and even today the interdisciplinary approach is only a reaction to thinking too square. Did you know for instance that the pointeshoe, symbol of ballet and classical dance, was invented by Italian acrobats?”
-As a choreographer, what fascinates you about creating a piece? What interests you the most?
“That we manage to create something that transcends us, that we make something which we could not have expected to be made…
I always start from constraining our movements with a given restrained specific situation. For the piece I am working on now, called Inschrift, we start form the tracks and traces at the bordercrossing in Mexico. By transcending that specific given as an inspiration, we hope to manage to tell something about migration as an abstract given.”
-When you create a piece, what catches your attention in another dancer?
“Dance is so special, as the mind is totally at service of the body. How do my fellow dancers deal with my geeky, nerdy, task oriented movement? What catches me is their perseverance, humour and attitude in this journey.”
-When can you actually define if you are satisfied with your work?
“If we manage to cut the legs from the chair we sat on.
“Like what ideas we use to think other ideas (with), it matters what matters we use to think other matters with”. (Donna Harraway)
I am very satisfied if we manage to move with other movements, to think with other uncommon ideas.”
-How do you work during the creation of a piece?
“I start by defining very constraining rules for all performers, and searching all the possibilities within those limits with the whole group. Then we take a step back and look at which story the movement research could tell, and start imagining the piece as an allegory.”
-What are the positive and negative aspects of leading a company?
“Navigating the boat, making sure everyone is evolving together, bringing in diversity that makes and brings diversity or can co-navigate,… Working within asymmetric roles, yet interrelating in an equal way and collaborating in a horizontal way is a constant negotiation.”
-What is the biggest challenge you had so far?
“Combining a private life with my passion.”
-Why do you think art is so important in society?
“Art is everything and everywhere for me and helps to give meaning.
For how can one describe death in words and grasp its meaning? Or -phrased a little bit different- how can one depict death better than through movement and stillness - through the body. Or how can one express -make love in a personal way towards a person, without a ‘creative or artistic approach’?”
-Can you give some advice to young dancers?
“Take the time to observe, watch and study. Take your time to learn, digest, spit, nourish, process, renourish, think, rethink, … Devote time to a teacher, choreographer, style and study one thing in depth rather than jumping from one practice or teacher to another (what society seems to encourage nowadays). Choose who you want to be surrounded with. It is better to look for one teacher for two years, rather than to study with someone that will install bad habits (based on quote of Feldenkrais)
And above all, art has no rules, so do especially what you think you should do!”
Thank you so much Alexander! It was such an honor for us!