Nordic Dance Makes Waves in Bruges

December's here again and so is December Dance, an annual festival of contemporary dance in Bruges. This year's theme is 'Nordic Waves', and as the name suggests the focus is on dancers and choreographers from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark.

Westward Ho! choreography: Tero Saarinen
photo: Sakari Viika

The festival opened on Thursday evening with a triple bill from the Finnish choreographer Tero Saarinen. While each of the three pieces was very different in character, it was striking how each of them used light in an innovative way to complement the dance and music: Westward ho! had a backdrop of the aurora borealis (Northern lights), the visual focus in Scheme of Things was a large rectangular board of lights that at times resembled disco lights and at others the light of fire and other elemental forces, while in Vox Balaenae a prism suspended from the ceiling played light games with the dance floor and the soloist's costume.

VOX BALAENAE choreography:
Tero Saarinen
photo: Sami Kulju

Can't wait until Tuesday's performance which promises to be a showstopper with choreography by the Helsinki Dance Company's Kenneth Kvarnström, combining contemporary dance with live classical music and costumes from leading Swedish and Finnish fashion designers.

Check out the full programme here. The festival runs until December 16.

Heavenly music at the KlaraFestival

4 Elements - 4 Seasons - Sommer (Dvd Extract) from Stephan Talneau on Vimeo.

The Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin orchestra last night gave a performance of baroque music like I've never seen before. On the programme were 'The Elements' by French composer Jean-Fery Rebel and 'The Four Seasons' by Antonio Vivaldi, both pieces composed in the early 18th century and both brought to life not only by the musicians but also by a dancer.

The performance, which was part of the annual KlaraFestival in Belgium, was full of life, energy and movement. At times I was absorbed in the music, at others mesmerized by the choreography. Sometimes I found myself chuckling at the cheeky gestures, at other times quite simply wowed by the interaction of music and dance.

During Rebel's work, the choreographer and dancer Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola played with fire and danced in water as he interpreted the music of 'The Elements'. During Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons', he wooed the solo violinist through the first signs of spring, the heat of summer, autumnal leaves and winter snowflakes. It really was a truly original and uplifting performance.

Another great concert earlier in the festival, whose theme this year is 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door', was 'Kosmos'. Have a read of my review in the Wall Street Journal.

The KlaraFestival runs until September 14, so there's still time to catch a concert, be it in Brussels, Antwerp or Bruges.

Manifesta comes to Belgium

Waterschei mine, location of Manifesta9
©Anna Jenkinson

My destination: a former coal-mining complex in Genk (Limburg province, Belgium). My reason: Manifesta, the roving European Biennial of Contemporary Art, which opened at the site this weekend and runs until 30 September.

I say contemporary art, but in fact there was as much history and heritage on show as there were new creations. From coal sacks hanging from the ceiling (as devised by Marcel Duchamp for the 1938 International Surrealism Exposition in Paris) to bookshelves filled with miners' employment booklets, from sculptures made of coal to a colourful, cascading installation of fabric by Chinese artist Ni Haifeng, the exhibition takes the visitor through centuries of industrialisation to the present day.

Ni Haifeng, Para-Production, 2012
©Anna Jenkinson

Inspired by the location's coal-mining heritage, the curators sought to underline the interaction between contemporary art, historic art and heritage. The result is a well-integrated exhibition with a strong thematic focus and plenty of resonances between archive documents, historical material and contemporary installations. The legacy of Manifesta 9, according to the organizers, will be an emphasis of how deeply embedded culture is in our society.


This year's biennial, unlike its predecessors, is taking place in one location: the beautifully renovated Waterschei mine. Officially known as the Andre Dumont mine after the man who discovered coal in Limburg, the site was completed in 1924, remaining a working mine for several decades before closing its doors in 1987.

Villa Empain: Art Deco Brussels Beauty

Villa Empain, on an embassy-lined avenue in Brussels, is a beautiful Art Deco residence that could have been lost forever had the Boghossian Foundation not stepped in and restored it to its former splendour. To read the rest of my article about Villa Empain, published in Flanders Today, click here. For some beautiful photos to whet your appetite, look no further than below.

© Europa Nostra

© Europa Nostra

© Europa Nostra