EXIT ABOVE - AFTER THE TEMPEST / D'APRÈS LA TEMPÊTE / NAAR DE STORM

Also in terms of the music, De Keersmaeker embarks on a journey towards a starting point that is in fact an intersection: the roots of pop music, the blues, and its mysterious ‘blue notes,’ in-between zones, between major and minor, sorrow and joy. The starting point for the performance is the song Walking Blues by legendary blues artist Robert Johnson; even though the journey leads back to Der Wanderer by Schubert, the best known singer-songwriter of the 19th Century. Meskerem Mees, an upcoming Flemish singer songwriter with Ethiopian roots, will compose a series of variations, permutations, and other adaptations of 'walking songs,’ together with Jean-Marie Aerts, sound architect of TC Matic, the legendary Belgian 80s rock formation around singer Arno, and with dancer and guitarist Carlos Garbin.

In  EXIT ABOVE - after the tempest / d'après la tempête / naar de storm, walking as primal motion and the blues as musical source meet. Choreographically, De Keersmaeker always moves from organically opening up simple movement material toward spatial and physical complexity, using precise geometrical patterns. 
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EXIT ABOVE - after the tempest / d'après la tempête / naar de storm  explores the tension between marching together and stepping out, between romantic solitary ‘wandern’ (wandering) and the political potential of a group of unarmed people walking together, the individual and the collective, the line and the circle. The act of walking runs counter to the hegemony of functionality and efficiency. It is an effort that produces nothing aside from the passing of time and the crossing of space. However, walking also generates thoughts and reminiscences that reveal the extent to which our inner world is also a landscape – a landscape that can often only be traversed on foot.

choreography Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
created with and danced by Abigail Aleksander, Jean Pierre Buré, Lav Crnčević, José Paulo dos Santos, Rafa Galdino, Carlos Garbin, Nina Godderis, Solal Mariotte, Meskerem Mees, Mariana Miranda, Ariadna Navarrete Valverde, Cintia Sebők, Jacob Storer
music Meskerem Mees, Jean-Marie Aerts, Carlos Garbin
music performed by Meskerem Mees, Carlos Garbin
scenography Michel François
light design Max Adams
costume design Aouatif Boulaich
text and lyrics Meskerem Mees, Wannes Gyselinck
dramaturgy Wannes Gyselinck
rehearsal directors Cynthia Loemij, Clinton Stringer
artistic coordination and planning Anne Van Aerschot
assistant to the artistic director Martine Lange
technical director Freek Boey
technicians Thibault Rottiers, Quentin Maes
sound Alex Fostier
costume coördinator Alexandra Verschueren
assisted by Els Van Buggenhout
wardrobe Alexandra Verschueren
sewing Chiara Mazzarolo, Martha Verleyen
production Rosas
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coproduction Concertgebouw Brugge (Bruges), De Munt / La Monnaie (Brussel / Bruxelles / Brussels), Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Le théâtre Garonne (Toulouse), GIE FONDOC OCCITANIE (Le Parvis Tarbes, Scène nationale ALBI Tarn, Le Cratère Alès, Scène nationale Grand Narbonne, Théâtre Garonne)

acknowledgements Baptiste Alexandre, Naomie Bentein, Bert De Swert, Michel Dierickx, Steven Fillet, Nicolas Fiszman, Ann-Sofie Merlier, Miet Ongena, Tom Pauwels, Jean-Luc Plouvier, Olivier Thys, Emma Zune

world premiere May 31, 2023, Théâtre National Wallonie- Bruxelles, Brussels
presented by Théâtre National Wallonie- Bruxelles, De Munt/ La Monnaie, Kaaitheater and Kunstenfestivaldesarts
with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels

This production is realized with the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, in collaboration with Casa Kafka Pictures – Belfius.
Rosas is supported by the Flemish Community, the Flemish Community Commission (VGC), and by the BNP Paribas Foundation.