On Speed | Grosse Fuge | Opus
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
Jan Martens | Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker | Christos Papadopoulos
In 2026, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting the Romaeuropa Festival for a programm dedicated to Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Christos Papadopoulos and Jan Martens, by the Ballet Vlaanderen.
A stimulating new experience at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen ballet to Bach
How can watching result in a different way of listening? That is the question behind OPUS, the second choreography by Christos Papadopoulos. The starting point is Die Kunst der Fuge by J.S. Bach, which is taken apart and reduced to its most elementary building blocks.
With a microscopically precise movement language and the focus on individual sounds and melodic lines, dancers and musicians once again put together the complex puzzle of Bach's work. This growth process is both systematic and organic, and allows us to look in a stimulating and surprising way at how music and movement are made synchronous.
Especially for the dancers of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, the choreographer is creating a new version of his ensemble piece, thus translating the concept 'opus' – according to the definition 'a superior and complex work from classical music, realised according to ancient rules and ideals' – in an idiosyncratic way to today.
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen brings together three contemporary choreographies spanning different generations of the Flemish and international scenes.
Jan Martens adapts his work On Speed for the Flemish company, a choreography built on energy, resistance, and rhythmic pulsation; a tight, insistent, and high-intensity physical language that pushes the dancers into a state of continuous acceleration, oscillating between precision, saturation, and loss of control.
The evening continues with Grosse Fuge, the historic choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Created in 1992 and now one of the emblematic works of her repertoire, the piece draws from Beethoven's monumental score to translate its contrapuntal complexity into a rigorous and vibrant choreographic construction.
The program closes with OPUS, one of the first choreographies by the Greek Christos Papadopoulos, presented in a new version for twelve dancers. Inspired by Bach's Die Kunst der Fuge, the work breaks down and recomposes the score through a choreographic language of almost microscopic precision, in which the minimal gesture becomes structure, rhythmic scansion, and perceptive matter.
Jan Martens
In 2026, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival presents THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER 2.0, the recreation of Jan Martens in collaboration NYU Skirball.
Dance Reflections also supports Mystery Sonatas, the next creation of the artist.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
In 2026, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival presents EXIT ABOVE, after the tempest by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker in collaboration with NYU Skirball.
Dance Reflections also supports the next creation GLA55 of the artist and the presentation of Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Radouan Mriziga.
Christos Papadopoulos
In 2026, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival presents Mycelium by Christos Papadopoulos with the Lyon Opera Ballet in collaboration with New York City Center.
about the partner
Romaeuropa Festival
In 2026, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting the Romaeuropa Festival for the presentation of 12 shows.
