User:Baervoets

Alexander Baervoets was born in 1956 in Sint-Niklaas (Flanders/Belgium) and studied modern history at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and esthetics and dance history at the Sorbonne (Paris I). At the same time he was training in ballet and in contemporary dance with a.o. Andrej Glegolski and Peter Goss.

As a critic he wrote reviews and essays for several newspapers and magazines in both Belgium and the Netherlands. He was an independent researcher and lectured regularly at university level and at international congresses throughout Europe. He is co-founder of the European Association of Dance Historians (Paris, 1988).

He made his debute as a choreographer in 1994. His work has an explicit conceptual framework. More specifically, he is questioning the relation between dance and the other arts, the possibility of reproducing dance, the esthetics/ethics of movement and the rhetorics of dance in general.

From his very first piece onward, Alexander Baervoets has received grants from the Flemish Government and found the main Flemish dance venues such as Stuk (Leuven), Vooruit (Ghent) and Monty (Antwerp) willing to co-produce his work.

From July 2001 till June 2009, his company has been receiving structural subventions under the umbrella of Kunst/Werk vzw. Since July 2009 he is working as an independent artist.

His main works are : Blauw (1994), a study for three dancers; Nievelt (1995), a production for five dancers in an installation by Dutch fine artist Paul Panhuysen, commissioned by the bi-annual Klapstuk festival of contemporary dance; Ha,Ha,Ha (1996), three movements for three dancers; ijsch (1997), a production for five dancers with live music for two pianos by American composer John McGuire; Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (1998), a solo improvisation by Alexander Baervoets to the preludes and fugues of J.S. Bach with live accompaniment on the piano by Yutaka Oya; 19:56 (1998), a solo by British dancer Natalie McDonnell to the live performance of the Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes by György Ligeti; Walden (1999), a solo by Canadian dancer Sarah Chase, based on the writings of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau; The Mapping of Canada (2000), a duet by Alexander Baervoets and David Hernandez; Room 201 (2000), a duet by Alexander Baervoets and Katrien van Aerschot; Schauet doch (2000) a group piece with Alexander Baervoets, David Hernandez, Brice Leroux and Katrien van Aerschot; Autumn Leaves (2001), danced by Alexander Baervoets, Susan Elliott and Eryn Dace Trudell; swollip (2002), an interactive performance for five dancers and a dj; Blind (2003), a choreography for three blindfolded dancers; Schäme dich (2003), a duet with dancer Heike Langsdorf; Ecce (2003), a video-installation in collaboration with Alexis Destoop; (no) Copyright (from 2004 onwards) is a longterm format in which Alexander Baervoets produces and shows work in one week time on location; Wachet auf (2007), a performance on 'grace'; Grace (As We Had Never Seen It Before) (2008), in collaboration with German dance dramaturge Maren Witte; Ricercare (2009), in collaboration with German choreographer Isabelle Schad.

He has been invited on many occasions to create work for students and has coached students (at P.A.R.T.S., Brussels, and HID, Antwerp) and young choreographers in their personal work.

He is participating frequently at improvisation sessions and is one of the founding members of the Paul Deschanel Movement Research Group (2002).