Dances of Death

2021–2023
International Tour (Festival de la Cité Lausanne, Moving in November Helsinki, STUK, among others)
June 2021
Live World Premiere / Kaaitheater, Brussels

Dances of Death is a physically intense ensemble performance for seven dancers and one vocalist, choreographed by Michiel Vandevelde. The work gathers a temporary community on stage to structurally and physicalize the commemoration of mortality. Evoking a ritualistic landscape, the performers "time travel" through disparate historical and cultural associations of the Danse Macabre, spanning from the ancient past to recent history. Moving, breathing, crying, laughing, and singing through a continuous loop, the ensemble occupies the fragile cycle between life and absolute decay.

The foundational choreographic material is built entirely upon an intimate, archival lineage: three short 16mm videos that Vandevelde inherited from his mother, capturing a dance vocabulary influenced by social, modern, and folkloric traditions. Set against a 21st-century landscape haunted by climate anxieties, rising precarity, and global crises, Dances of Death serves as a collective quest to physically cope with mortality through movement, questioning how a dance of death must be danced today.

Choreography, Lights, Sound, Set, and Text: Michiel Vandevelde
Performance and Dance: Amanda Barrio Charmelo, Júlia Rúbies Subirós, Samuel Baidoo, Hanako Hayakawa, Audrey Merilus / Jara Vlaeminckx, Robson Ledesma, and Mario Barrantes Espinoza
Vocalist: Kara Leva
Dramaturgy: Esther Severi
Costume Design: Ester Manas
Masks: Heide Vanderieck
Production: Disagree. vzw
Co-production: December Dance (Cultuurcentrum en Concertgebouw Brugge), Kaaitheater, Kunstenwerkplaats, KAAP, Stuk, and PACT Zollverein
With the support of: The Flemish Government and the Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (VGC)

Selected Touring

2022–2023 | Touring Seasons: CC Sint-Niklaas, CC De Werf (Aalst), Festival de la Cité (Lausanne, CH).
2021 | Premiere Season: December Dance 2021 (Magdalenazaal, Bruges), Moving in November Festival (Helsinki, FI), Leietheater (Deinze), STUK (Leuven), Dansand Festival (Outdoor Version, Ostend), Kaaitheater (Brussels).
Broadcast Premiere: Digital launch via Podium-19 / VRT.NU (February 2021).