Belgium|cultural influences in dance

A group of 12 Asian and European dancers, choreographers, academics and a policy advisor are brought together by well-known German choreographer Arco Renz to explore the nature of dance and its practise within cultural contexts. They will meet at Monsoon, a residency supported by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), from 18-23 December in Leuven, Belgium.

Monsoon is a transcultural, multidisciplinary research and performance platform created by Kobalt Works (Belgium), an artistic company founded by Renz, for Asian and European artists. It aims to examine conventional stereotypes through a collaborative exploration of artistic practices and discussion of participants’ diverse cultural and socio-political contexts.

In this third edition, which takes place at STUK Arts Centre in Leuven, the eight dancers and choreographers will be split up into four Asian-European pairs for a virtual blind date. Before the start of the residency, they will engage in an anonymous dialogue on dance using blogs on ASEF’s arts and culture platform culture360.org without revealing any culturally identifying information.

They will meet for the first time at the residency where each pair will collaborate on a new work in the fields of contemporary dance, multimedia art and music. The artists will showcase the collaborative effort as a work-in-progress on the last night of their residency.

There will also be a presentation by Ms Katelijn Verstraete, from ASEF’s Cultural Exchange Department, on ASEF’s rich experience in facilitating networking and collaborations between Asia and Europe.

The Monsoon 2010 programme includes the following public events:

Performance of existing work by the Asian artists – Monday, 20 December 2010, 8:30pm at STUK Arts Centre

Presentation of ASEF’s experience in facilitating networking and collaborations between Asia and Europe by Ms Katelijn Verstraete, Assistant Director, Cultural Exchange – Tuesday, 21 December, 7:30 pm, at International University College Leuven