When the car park of the Zuiderstrand Theatre is full at a pre-premiere, you know something exciting is happening inside. And that's right: Isabelle Beernaert and her ensemble present the new production Under My Skin. Dance like an Instagram account: popular, photogenic and ephemeral.
Woman
Actually, the dance is like a Pinterest-account. Because that seems to be mostly for women. And there is a lot of woman in Under My Skin. This starts with a goddess, a mother figure standing tall with a big dress on stage, and continues in dance with many yearning women - and tough-looking men who actually have little to contribute. Except for Remses Rafaela.
Under My Skin is about "something 'higher': something that captivates our whole being". I am quite open to that but don't quite get it: practically speaking, it revolves mainly around Remses. He is the central character, the alpha male who conquers multiple women. So he is in top physical condition and shows an unparalleled mastery of acrobatic leaps: as if he is hanging still in the air and decides for himself when to land. In the end, he too breaks, once counterpart Dimitra Kolokouri disappears from view.
According to him. According to her.
But I wonder: had I been a woman, I might have written that the performance is mostly about Dimitra. She enters into relationships, feels a call, responds to it in an earthy way (with suggestive hand movements in erogenous zones) and finally finds herself in the purifying rain. Developing the spectator in yourself adds new dimensions
IMAX
The dancers are accompanied by a huge projection on the backdrop, which takes you through different worlds: wild canyons, forests, sunset, underwater. This produces beautiful images but also detracts from the dance. Isabelle Beernaert actually became big thanks to masterpieces she choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance. In a nutshell, she was able to portray bitter pain and connect the audience with it.
Soft touch
Under My Skin lacks the bitter depth of a miserably good French film. Despite the French chansons and plenty of drama in the choice of music for the short dance pieces: from Mozart (the famous A-dur Adagio) to Les moulins de mon coeur. That's the point: Isabelle Beernaert no longer wants to shake people up. 'Only when you make yourself vulnerable will you find love.' A gentle approach, in other words. The audience is impressed and gives the dancers a standing ovation. Beernaert knows how to mobilise the audience. That's clever. And that without subsidy. Already the fifth year in a row.
Like Instagram. Everyone keeps looking at it.
Go to the playing schedule: Friday, November 13, Under My Skin will premiere.
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