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(c) Bart Grietens

VanThorhout (preview)

Not Standing Alexander Vantournhout
Bijloke Wonderland
Fri 26 Aug - Sun 28 Aug
26 Aug
-
28 Aug

VanThorhout forms an energetic and precise dissection of male power and the cultural imagery surrounding it. 

Whether it be ancient gods, classical heroes, soldiers or athletes, the glorification of male power throughout history has often tended towards a celebration of war, aggression, and violence. Thor, to whom the title refers, is one of its most famous personifications of this. He can unleash a thunderstorm and lives on to this day as a superhero in Marvel comics and films, invariably depicted with his Mjölnir, a hammer with an incredibly short handle. At a time when stereotypical forms of masculinity are strongly being challenged, how can we generate new images of men?

In VanThorhout, Alexander comes on stage as Thor, with his own Mjölnir. As always in Alexander’s oeuvre, the relationship between object and performer quickly becomes ambiguous. When do one lose the strength to manipulate this heavy hammer, and when does the hammer take over and become uncontrollable? What if all these images of power disintegrate?

After a series of group choreographies, Alexander Vantournhout now returns to the stage alone.   

12 years and older

(c) Bart Grietens
(c) Bart Grietens

An initiative by
LOD music theatre, Music Centre De Bijloke, STAM en laGeste (les ballets C de la B & kabinet k)
With the support of
Art Centre VIERNULVIER

Credits

choreography & performance Alexander Vantournhout artistic assistant Emmi Väisänen dramaturgy Rudi Laermans & Sébastien Henderickx outside eye Charlotte Cétaire, Anneleen Keppens, Esse Vanderbruggen & Sandy Williams object manipulation outside eyes Simon Janson & Sebastian Bergerprop prop design Tom De With & Willy Cauwelier light design Bert Van Dijck thanks to Bojana Cvejić, Ben Mcewen & Tom Van der Borght company manager Esther Maas technical coordination Rinus Samyn production manager Barbara Falter & Aïda Gabriëls diffusion Frans Brood Productions production not standing 
with the support of la Fondation d’entreprise Hermès within the context of the New Settngs programme and the Flemish authorities co-production Arts Center VIERNULVIER, Le CENTQUATRE (Paris), Les Subsistances – SUBS (Lyon), Les 2 Pôles Nationauxdes Arts du Cirque normands — La Brèche (Cherbourg) & le Cirque-Théâtre d'Elbeuf, 3 bis f - centre d'arts contemporains (Aix-en-Provence)

 
Alexander Vantournhout is artist-in-residence in Arts Centre VIERNULVIER in Ghent and associated artist of le CENTQUATRE Paris andCirque-théâtre Elbeuf. He is cultural ambassador of the city of Roeselare and is also supported by Fondation BNP Paribas for thedevelopment of his projects.