GRIP 2.0 – towards shared leadership

In 2023 GRIP, founded in 2014 by choreographer Jan Martens and business manager Klaartje Oerlemans, will evolve into an organisation with shared artistic leadership. In addition to Martens himself, current GRIP artists Cherish Menzo and Steven Michel will give shape to GRIP 2.0, together with newcomer Femke Gyselinck. They will do this in close dialogue with Klaartje Oerlemans and Rudi Meulemans, who will coordinate and facilitate the dialogue between the four makers in his role of artistic coordinator.

The four choreographers will realize their artistic projects within the umbrella structure and act as sparring partners for each other. In addition, they will share their expertise, artistic practice(s) and network with each other and with the broader field. Next to the artistic work they will develop, they also subscribe to the same ethical values and have the joint ambition to carry an organisation, in close collaboration with the business manager and artistic coordinator. All this is coupled with a big sense of commitment to the sector within which they work, with an emphasis on knowledge sharing and with some concrete initiatives in the pipeline (including annual DanceSeminars icw venues and educational institutions – more on that soon).

In 2021-2022 there were already some shifts within the structure with a.o. Bára Sigfúsdóttir and Michele Rizzo leaving the nest in ‘21. Bára moved to Oslo after a successful transfer trajectory and continues her artistic practice from there. She broods on new projects while maintaining strong ties with Belgium and its neighboring countries. Michele’s focus shifted invreasingly to (performative) work in the museum space and movement design within a.o. film and fashion. After a valuable collaboration, he is now continuing his professional activities outside of GRIP.

In 2021 also, talks started with Femke Gyselinck. Together with the three current GRIP artists, the business manager and the artistic coordinator, she drew up the new plans for the policy period ’23-27 (and therefore also for GRIP 2.0). 2022 is a transitional year for GRIP in which the first steps towards the updated structure are taken. Femke’s work will already partially be supported by GRIP in 2022 (e.g. in terms of distribution). In 2023, she officially joins the ranks as GRIP artist and co-artistic leader.