Photo : Birdwatching 4x4 © Vincent Muteau
Birdwatching 4×4
Benjamin Vandewalle
(Belgium)
Mobile choreographic space and moving observatory in public space
Tout public
In 2013, the Belgian dancer and choreographer premiered the 4x4 version of his performance, Birdwatching, at Les Tombées de la Nuit. Last year, he returned to Rennes with his production, Studio Cité. This year he will be performing Birdwatching 4x4 once again, taking the same route through the Champs Libres/Liberté neighbourhood. The mobile observatory platform works like a view camera, taking the audience along the same wandering route, following the choreographed urban trajectory of dancers.

Created in 2009 by Belgian artists Benjamin Vandewalle and Erki De Vries, the first production of Birdwatching had the spectators sitting in a mobile platform which became the actual subject of the choreography. With his continued fascination of the concept of perception, the Antwerp-based dancer and choreographer took the experiment further four years later by developing a mobile observation chamber, Birdwatching 4×4, which functions like a photographic chamber. The vehicle resembles a magic bus, a travelling observatory in the form of a view camera that transports the audience on a choreographed journey across the streets of the city. Framing the moving stage like a camera, the system forces the eye of the spectator to recreate the neighbourhood with their own perspectives, overlaid with the dancers’ performances.

Artists, the city and spectators seemingly pop in and out of the image at random, as day-to-day reality and staged reality become intertwined. Through a mirror effect, as if looking through the lens of a camera, the everyday landscape becomes a testing ground for perspectives, points of view, fragments of vision and the unexpected movements of the dancers. This experimental choreographed journey gradually reshapes reality, causing us to lose our bearings when it comes to perspectives, to better explore our relationship with what is perceptible. A classic from Benjamin Vandewalle, who never ceases to take us on a journey.

BIOGRAPHY

> BENJAMIN VANDEWALLE (Belgium)

Benjamin Vandewalle was born in 1983 and studied at the Royal Ballet School Antwerp and PARTS: School for Contemporary Dance in Brussels. Early on, he began incorporating the idea of perception and movement, for both dancers and spectators alike. His works explore the understanding of reality, space and movement, in different contexts both inside and outside the theatre. For Birdwatching (2009) and One/Zero (2011), he collaborated with visual artist Erki de Vries. In 2012, he left the theatre to adventure into public space, particularly with Birdwatching 4×4 (2012), Inter-view (2013), Hear (2016), Peri-Sphere (2017), Walking the Line (2017), and the performance Studio Cité (2019). Vandewalle is a dance education teacher and has worked at KASK, MUDA, and the South African dance school, Niakaza. He also directed the project Comfusao in Mozambique and organised choreography exchanges with Senegal. From 2017 to 2021 he was an artist in residence at the Kaaitheater in Brussels.

DISTRIBUTION

Concept et chorégraphie : Benjamin Vandewalle
Scénographie : Pieter Huybrechts et Benjamin Vandewalle
Concept original : Erki De Vries
Danse : Benjamin Vandewalle, Peter De Vuyst, Maïte Jeannolin, Rosa Omarsdottir, Krisjanis Sants, Christopher Schieche et Kathryn Vickers
Musique : Nico Sall

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Friday 08 July 2022
12:00 > 12:40
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Friday 08 July 2022
15:00 > 15:40
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Friday 08 July 2022
16:00 > 16:40
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Friday 08 July 2022
18:00 > 18:40
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Saturday 09 July 2022
12:00 > 12:40
Lieu indiqué sur le billet
Saturday 09 July 2022
15:00 > 15:40
Lieu indiqué sur le billet
Saturday 09 July 2022
16:00 > 16:40
Lieu indiqué sur le billet
Saturday 09 July 2022
18:00 > 18:40
Lieu indiqué sur le billet

40mn
5€ / 2€ Sortir !
Reservation required at the Opera ticket office
cognitif visuel
SUR LE MÊME SUJET
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The association is supported by the City of Rennes, the Brittany Region, the Ille-et-Vilaine Department & the ministry of culture.

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