Golden Hours - As you like it

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

On the fourth of june 2015, I went to the Concerthall of Brugge. There i saw the two and a half hour during performance ‘Golden Hours (As you like it)’, from Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.  

In ‘Golden Hours (As you like it)’, dance and theatre meet each other in a choreography. On the beats of ‘Golden hours’ of Brian Eno’s last rock album ‘Another Green world’ the dancers interpret Shakespeare's ‘As you like it’. What will happen when Shakespeare’s rhythm and poetical imagery become dance? When the lyrics the movements and concentration feeds the thinking body. How does listening to a partner become 

De Keersmaeker based the piece on the two aspects, however, it’s hard to see both of them equally, the music aspect is more present. Some loose, short pieces of ‘As you like it’ were projected in the back. Sometimes you could see the reference between the lyrics and the dance, dancers were playing a part from the script. When you read the synopsis in advance, you can see the characters, but it would be really hard to see those references if you didn’t read the script. 

After two times playing the song ‘Golden Hours’, eleven dancers run in, in an empty stage, and stand still. In a slow slow motion, the well-trained dancers start walking downstage.  

After some twiddling and noises, you also got a hypnotically feeling. The audience was drawn into the performance and the story. But after the long and slow introduction, its hard to focus and get the story. 

The dancers seem to have their own moment-qualities and very different, but sadly you don’t really see those own characteristics. You get the feeling that they all had to move in the same quality, nevertheless they had to play different roles. 

The tedious silent moments were interrupted by dancers that started singing or playing the accordeon or the guitar. And at the moments when the song ‘Golden Hours’ comes up, there is a relieving feeling where the pieces can fall together. 

Next performances of Rosas in Belgium: 

• 22-23.02.2017 RAIN CC de Belém - Lisbon, Portugal
• 23.02-04.03.2017 A LOVE SUPREME.                                                                                                     Kaaitheater, De Munt / La Monnaie & Kaaitheater - Brussels, Belgium
• 08-10.03.2017 RAIN 30CC/Schouwburg, STUK & 30CC (Dubbeldans) - Leuven, Belgium
• 09.03.2017 VERKLÄRTE NACHT CC Maasmechelen - Maasmechelen, Belgium
• 14.03.2017 RAIN PBA, Charleroi Danses & PBA - Charleroi, Belgium
• 17.03.2017 PARTITA 2 CC Strombeek - Strombeek-Bever, Belgium
• 19-22.04.2017 A LOVE SUPREME Minnemeers, NTGent - Ghent, Belgium
• 23.11.2017 A LOVE SUPREME CC Maasmechelen - Maasmechelen, Belgium
• 07.12.2017 A LOVE SUPREME CC De Spil - Roeselare, Belgium

Choreography :  Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Company:          Rosas

Dancers:            Aron Blom, Linda Blomqvist, Tale Dolven, Carlos Garbin, 

                         Tarek Halaby, Mikko Hyvönen, Veli Lehtovaara, Sandra Ortega Bejaro,  

                         Elizaveta Penkova, Georgia Vardarou, Sue-Yeon Youn  

Music:               Another Green World (1975), Brian Eno

Arrangement:    Carlos Garbin

Artistic Advice : Ann Veronica Janssens

Dramaturgy:      Bonjana Cvejic

Light:               Luc Schaltin

Costumes :        Anne-Catherine Kunz

Coproduction:   De munt, Kaaitheater (Brussel), Théâtre de la ville de Luxembourg, 

  Théâtre de la ville (Parijs), Sadler’s Wells London, Sterischer Herbst (Graz), 

                        Opéra de lille, Ruhrtiënnale (Bochum), Concertgebouw Brugge, 

                        Festival Montepellier Danse 2015

By Hanne Blomme 

     19/02/2017