http://www.lesballetscdela.be

Les Ballets C de la B was founded in 1984 by Alain Platel. This dance and theatre collective has now developed into a group that is successful both at home and abroad. Les Ballets C de la B is often mentioned in the same breath as Wim Vandekeybus, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Jan Lauwers and Jan Fabre, all artists, since referred to collectively as the Flemish Wave, who were responsible for bringing about changes in the Flemish theatre landscape.

Les Ballets C de la B became world renowned with an eclectic, almost surrealist mixture of modern dance, plays and music. Over the years the company has become an artistic platform for various choreographers, its inspirers being Alain Platel and also Christine De Smedt and Koen Augustijnen. Hans van den Broeck was also a member of the company until he founded his own company, Cie Soit, in 2002. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui worked as a choreographer for Les Ballets C de la B until 2006, and since 2010 has had his own company, Eastman, in which to work.

Les Ballets C de la B still sticks to its principle of allowing performing artists from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds to participate in this dynamic creative process. Its unique combination of artistic visions makes this collective impossible to categorise. Even so, something like a house style has taken shap (popular, anarchic, eclectic, committed) with the motto ‘this dance belongs to the world and the world is for everyone’.

As a member of the collective Alain Platel has in turns played the role of performer, choreographer and artistic director. Following Allemaal Indiaan – the culmination of a whole series of successful productions – he retired as director. Fuelled by a journey through Palestine, Platel returned with the music-theatre production Wolf (2003), and this new impulse continued in VSPRS (2006) and pitié! (2008).

Christine De Smedt joined Les Ballets C de la B in 1990 after completing her studies in Criminology. She created her first solo La force fait l’union fait la force in 1993. In 9x9 (2000) she used the human masses as a starting point and set to work with participants from different backgrounds (the elderly, young people and photographers). From 2002 to the end of 2005 Christine De Smedt was the company’s co-artistic director.

Koen Augustijnen started his career as a dancer for Les Ballets C de la B in 1991. From 1997 onwards he worked as a choreographer in To Crush Time, in which he revealed the vulnerability behind the façade of heroes like Mohammed Ali and John Massis. This was followed by the productions Just another Landscape for some Jukebox Money (2002), bâche (2004), IMPORT EXPORT (2006) and Ashes (2008).

Lastly, Les Ballets C de la B clearly presents itself as a socially committed group, which is evident from such things as its regular cooperation with performing artists in Palestine who are trying to chart an interesting artistic course in spite of the extremely difficult circumstances.