324 mountains between us

Femke Gyselinck for europalia georgia - delegated producer GRIP

2023
© Robbrecht Desmet
© Robbrecht Desmet
© Robbrecht Desmet
© Robbrecht Desmet
© Robbrecht Desmet
As many as 324 mountains stand between Belgium and Georgia, or between Anushka and Femke. And yet, despite this seemingly unbridgeable gap, a connection sometimes can arise. Distance doesn’t stand in the way of intimacy. It is a paradox to play with.

Europalia acted as a matchmaker between artists Anushka Chkheidze and Femke Gyselinck – one a musician-composer from Georgia, the other a dancer-choreographer from Belgium – and initiated this meeting.

The two women made a pact. They probe, measure, count. They trace a mysterious course in the space available, an imaginary journey in 324 stages. In it, Femke again seeks a close connection between expressive, unspectacular movements and live music, combined with a bold but modest performativity. Anushka’s sound evolves through styles beyond ambient and IDM. The chords in her compositions refer to Georgian polyphony, which she looks at from her perspective and knowledge.

 

In 324 mountains between us, the artists show how Femke’s danced vocabulary and Anushka’s electronic compositions can sometimes bridge the distance between them but sometimes also increase that same distance.

For the scenography and costumes, Femke pursued the collaborations entered into in previous productions: Aslı Çiçek has designed a glowing set for the show and created a variation on the black box that provides inspiring constraints. Nel Maertens and Veronika Vimpelova designed the costumes.

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press quotes

'Sometimes arranged marriages work out well. 342 Mountains Between Us, by dancer-choreographer Femke Gyselinck and musician-composer Anushka Chkheidze, seems to be one of them. Together the two performers’ bodies create a visual poetry that overlays the sound. A delicately poised but powerful piece.'
- Oonagh Duckworth, Pzazz

credits

CHOREOGRAPHY & DANCE: Femke Gyselinck
MUSIC: Anushka Chkheidze
SCENOGRAPHY: Aslı Çiçek
SCENOGRAPHY PROJECT ASSISTANCE: Olivia de Bree
COSTUMES: Nel Maertens, Veronika Vimpelova
DANCE DRAMATURGY: Steven Michel
LIGHTS: Elke Verachtert
SOUND: Milan Van Doren
INTERNSHIP: Lucas Resende
 

ASSIGNMENT: europalia georgia
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: GRIP
INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION A Propic - Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent, Lara van Lookeren
COPRODUCTION: Perpodium
RESIDENCIES: workspacebrussels, KWP Kunstenwerkplaats, kunstencentrum nona, corso, GC De Kriekelaar, théâtre varia, P.A.R.T.S, VIERNULVIER
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: the Flemish government, Tax Shelter of the Belgian federal government via Cronos Invest