Rif is turning 1 and that will be celebrated on Saturday 26 September! High-profile guests are on our guest list Tembo, the elephantAt 2 PM, we will await him at a, for the moment still secret, location in Mortsel. Under the guidance of the Rif Fanfare We then accompany Tembo to the Deurneleitje where it Rif Party eruption.
In the wake of this great quadruped, join us in celebrating: Lotte Boonstra with some living sculptures from her performance Eight (or maybe nine) universal truths about human nature, Jochem Baelus‘imaginative analogue music machines, the disarming music & dance performance Ben & Vero from Benjamin Vandewalle, Véronique Mees & Pak Yan Lau, but also Lucas & the prawns feat. Amanda Bavo, a speech by housemate and writer Line Mertens, the tap dance class, a continuous bingo for young and old (under the direction of Jacques Plouvier), Soul-reading in the Chakravan, interventions from the circus school Art To Move, a Design-your-nest-box exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts Mortsel, a creative Chromatography or soil analysis workshop and delicious food prepared by Stadskeuken The Stream. Something for everyone, you could say, and from 2pm to 10:30pm. A slightly more streamlined schedule will follow, but it'll be surprising no matter what!
The places for the people's kitchen of The Stream (18:00) and the performance Ben & Vero from Benjamin Vandewalle and Véronique Mees (20 people) are limited. Therefore, for these activities, we kindly ask you to book a ticket in advance via the ticket links below. Pay What You Want, ... convenient and you choose how rich you make the "Rif". All other activities during the "Rif" Festival are free to enter.
Read more about the performance Ben & Vero
What happens when two dancers from very different walks of life meet? Veronique has mastered dance at Platform K, a dance company for dancers with disabilities. Benjamin has disciplined his dancing body through years of ballet and contemporary training. They find each other in a dance where risk is not shied away from. They love to challenge each other, to push themselves physically, mentally and spiritually to the limits of what they believe they are capable of. In dialogue with live musician Pak Yan, they build a universe of sound, movement and text that impresses with its authenticity. Pak Yan intervenes in the encounter between Ben and Veronique from a self-built island of contact microphones, samplers and electronic instruments. The three of them search for a fusion of different styles and disciplines where it is no longer clear who supports, leads or inspires whom. Hierarchical structures based on physical abilities, gender and age are left far behind. The more the two dancers and the musician find their own creativity, the freer they feel in their encounter with themselves and with each other. Do they also free the contemporary dance performance from its conventions of formality and virtuosity? In any case, the result is a surprisingly intimate and interpersonal contact in dance and music that is occasionally stubbornly confrontational, but often also gentle, and always playful, light, multi-layered and fluid.
Door en met Veronique Mees and Benjamin Vandewalle Live music Pak Yan Lau Scenography Erki De Vries Lighting design Lucas Van Haesbroeck Technology Tijmen Vandamme, Janneke Donkersloot Costume 10.2 by J Boy Dramaturgy Robert Stijen, Mira Bryssinck Interviews and Sound Recording Eva De Groote/Audiomakerij Selkie Production Caravan Production Movement assistance Véronique Jessi Zhang, Magdalena Öttl In cooperation with Platform K Co-production KAAP, Viernulvier, SOaP, C-Takt, Perpodium With the support of The Flemish Community, the Flemish Community Commission and tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government by Cronos In
