fABULEUS & Michiel Vandevelde

Michiel Vandevelde is a choreographer, dancer, and writer. He is affiliated with the Antwerp arts centre De Singel as a curator. In recent years, he has created works such as Le Sacre du Printemps and The Goldberg Variations (in collaboration with Platform-K). By the age of 18, Michiel had already performed in five youth productions by fABULEUS and created four of his own. Paradise Now (1968-2018), which he made for fABULEUS in 2018, was hailed as one of the most exciting dance performances of that year.

Austrian premiere

Contorted into seemingly impossible positions, eight acrobatic bodies pile up to form human pyramids – powerful gestures of vulnerability and sexual desire. A fivepiece live band envelops us in a soundscape of gothic, industrial, and metal music. While the idealised image of adolescence is one of new beginnings, optimism, and hope, the reality of many young people is marked by socially induced depression, aggressive tendencies, and at times morbid thoughts. out of hands translates these tensions into mesmerising dance and music scenes. Belgian choreographer and curator Michiel Vandevelde was already a guest at donaufestival in 2019 with his acclaimed youth performance Paradise Now (1968–2018), which dealt with the reverberations of utopian social concepts. out of hands is an embodied, sonic journey into the underworld of youth, a descent into bleak future prospects. This is where teenage angst dwells, but also the desire for liberated togetherness of the spectacle and to gestures that provoke moments of apprehension. 

Concept & choreography: Michiel Vandevelde | Dance: Jinte De Greef, Lexi De Wambersie, Kyano Holbrechts, Ben Herlaar Masina, Dauwke Van Kerckhove, Kauan Matheus Van Mol, Hannah Zaitoune & Anna Zhao | Music: Fleur Di Miceli, Oona Geelen, Maaren Massin, Elizabeth Rijckaert & Marlies Van Oost | Assistant acrobatics: Helena Sirugue | Musical direction: Ephraïm Cielen | Dramaturgy: Kristof van Baarle | Costumes: Milk of Lime | Scenography & light design: Michiel Vandevelde | Production: fABULEUS | Co-production STUK, KAAP & Perpodium | In collaboration with CC Brugge & Dans in Brugge | With the support of Destelheide, de stad Leuven, de Vlaamse Overheid & de Tax Shelter van de Belgische federale overheid 

Content note: Some viewers may find this performance intense. There are scenes with loud music, smoke and flashing lights. Some images refer to violence and sexuality.