| Marc Bogaerts | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 July 1951 Antwerp, Belgium |
| Nationality | Belgium |
| Field | Theatre, Dance |
| Training | The Royal Ballet of Flanders |
| Works | Not strictly Rubens, Carmina Burana, The Emperor’s Dream |
| Website | www.bogaertsproductions.net |
Marc Bogaerts (born 16 July 1951 in Antwerp) is a Belgian choreographer and artistic director.[1] He has worked internationally for over more than 50 dance, opera and circus companies. Bogaerts stipulates that our current generational dynamic is complex and routed in the mundane and monotonous rigors of our daily need to survive or surpass. Therefore he believes in the need to counterbalance routine by symmetrically presenting traditionally segregated styles such as opera, ballet, nouveau circus and stationary art. Following postmodernism, Marc Bogaerts builds a bridge between all forms of physical expression. Making unconventional combinations (modern dancers with athletes, circus artists with ballroom dancers, ice skaters with snake women, breakdancers with classical dancers) and bringing in his productions sport, art, ecology/innovations together he creates unusual symbiosis.
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He studied 7 years Latin, Greek and philosophy with the Jesuits, which influenced his later work by integrated understanding of all sports, the unity of body and soul, as it was formulated by the ancient Greeks. In 1975 he started his career as a dancer and soon also as a choreographer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. From 1982 to 1993 he resided in New York, where he danced as an honorary guest performer with Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown and Laura Dean, taught at the Actors Studio in New York and initiated numerous artistic social projects raising awareness about abortion, drugs and genocide. From New York he moved to Berlin. As the only choreographer working for all three opera houses in Berlin: Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Komische Oper Berlin he created performances such as Carmina Burana, L’Histoire du Soldat or Four Seasons. He has also worked for many Olympic ice skaters. Under the guidance of Marc Bogaerts and Martin Skotnicky, the two German ice skaters Kati Winkler and René Lohse would go on to win the bronze medal in Ice Dancing at the World Figure Skating Championships 2004. Later on Bogaerts worked in Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Portugal and Romania. Living all around the world he finds inspiration for his interdisciplinary productions. At the moment creating a synthesis of sport and stage art is in the centre of his artistic work.
He choreographed so far for more than 48 operas, dance companies and circus groups including:
He represented Belgium at the Contemporary Dance Festival in the Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain)
The Emperor’s Dream with performances in Brussels, Frankfurt (Jahrhunderhalle) and Madrid was a production made for the celebrations of the change of millennium.
For The National Ballet of the Opera Bucharest he made a contemporary dance production Midsummernight’s dream.
For the International Theatre Festival of Sibiu he choreographed the production Moi Rodin (director- Mihai Maniutiu, text by Patrick Roegiers). Performances were shown also at the International Theatre Festival in Russia, Poland, Israel, France, Korea, Canada.
He created a multi dance project De koninginnen van de nacht with participation of: Jean Bosco Safari and Geike Arnaert, European and World Champion in Karate Tina Bellemans, boxer and ex-Mr. Universe Bill Richardson accompanied by live drum music with the Japanese Wadokyo / taiko Tenbe.
His production Not strictly Rubens for the Royal Ballet of Flanders (music- Praga Kahn, costumes- Walter Van Beirendonck) involved creating new MTV video clip, a CD and a fashion exhibition in Antwerp.
His production DuXtrou (Antwerp Accent) was described by the press as a poetic, unprecedented event.
He made Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) for the ballet and orchestra of the Staatstheater Schwerin.
His Sleeping Beauty with 40 actors and dancers was shown on a contemporary dance theater presentation for the Cluj-Napoca National Theatre, Romania.
Since 10 years Bogaerts works worldwide in close cooperation with numerous Olympic training centers in order to bring more value in the world of sport. He led many artistic skate dancers to the Olympic Games, did the opening of the Pan American Games and was also the director of the Berlin International Deutsches Turnfest in Deutschlandhalle where he proposed 18,000 spectators (live RBB broadcast) his vision of bringing sport and art together. With the idea of Sport vs Art he made in Belgium productions for Rotterdam Sport Congress, FIG-Gala (Ghent 2006), Flemish Sport Prize Award (Brussels, KVS 2006), "Apotheosis" (Antwerp), Ghent Sports Arena, West-Flemish Sport Prize, "S.P.O.R.T." Hour Culture at the Catholic University of Leuven.
Convinced about stagnation of modern dance after the death of Limón and Graham, foreseeing new development in contemporary and classical dance, Bogaerts developed a methodical-pedagogic system starting at age of twelve, that combines the Vaganova method with Limón technique and emphasises on the knowledge he acquired working for many Olympic Training centres worldwide. He taught this system at the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin, Ballettschule der Wiener Staatsoper, Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung Munich, the Royal Ballet School Antwerp, the Australian Conservatory of Ballet, the Victoria College of the Arts, University of North Carolina School of the Arts , Saint Petersburg and the Royal Danish Ballet School.