Drumming XXL
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
In 2024, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris for the creation of Drumming XXL, performed by dancers from the CNSMDP, P.A.R.T.S school, and École des Sables. This event will take place at the MC93 and then in the courtyard of la Grande Halle de la Villette.
Drumming was created in August 1998, to one of Steve Reich’s compositions. The irresistible rhythm of the music propels the dancers to perform this seemingly complex yet surprisingly simple choreography. Like the music, the dance begins with a single movement phrase. It is explored comprehensively and relentlessly for an entire hour, through countless combinations, variations, and transformations, by reversing or speeding up and slowing down.
Following the tradition of major projects initiated by the Conservatoire de Paris since 2019, Drumming XXL brings together 70 artists from École des Sables, a legendary dance school founded by Germaine Acogny in Toubab Dialaw in Senegal, P.A.R.T.S. school founded by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.
These dancers from different schools and backgrounds have worked on a new version of the original choreography. They recreated various segments of the original choreography, by adding their personal touch to it, by making duos and trios, and by using underlying patterns of the original routine to create new ones.
Photo: © Herman Sorgeloos
About the artist
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
In 2023, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting the choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker for her latest creation EXIT ABOVE, as well as several European institutions for the presentation of the piece.
