Christine De Smedt

Christine De Smedt (1963) is a Belgian dancer and choreographer. Her artistic work is situated on the boundary between dance / performance, choreography, artistic coordination and artistic projects of various kinds. [1]

Education

After completing her studies in criminology, Christine De Smedt became interested in dance and performance and began to study different techniques for motion research.[1]

Collaboration with les ballets C de la B

From 1991 to 2012, Christine De Smedt was a member of les ballets C de la B, the Ghent dance company founded by Alain Platel, which was also home for a long time to Hans van den Broeck, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Koen Augustijnen.[2] She danced in Mussen (Alain Platel, 1991) and was assistant director on How to approach a dog (Hans Van den Broeck, 1992). From 2003 to 2005 she was the artistic coordinator of les ballets C de la B.[3] In 2010 she initiated the first Summer Intensive, a residence in studio 3 at les ballets C de la B.[4]

Collaboration with Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods

In 1992, Christine De Smedt was part of the interdisciplinary SKITE project (laboratoire de nouvelles formes chorégraphiques) in Paris, where her first artistic encounter with the American choreographer Meg Stuart took place.[1] She also collaborated with Meg Stuart and her company Damaged Goods between 1995 and 1999. In 1996, she danced in the remake of Stuart's debut choreography Disfigure Study (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1991), and assisted the choreographer as a coach for this remake.[5] In addition, she worked as a dancer on No One's Watching (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1995)[6] and Splayed Mind Out (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods and Gary Hill, 1997) ).[7] Together with Meg Stuart and choreographer / dancer David Hernandez, she initiated the multi-disciplinary improvisation project Crash Landing (1996-1999).[8]

Own work as a choreographer

Christine De Smedt started her own work in the period when she was a member of les ballets C de la B. Her debut was the dance solo La force fait l'union fait la force (1994). One of her best-known projects from that period is 9x9 (2000), a large-scale choreographic project that was realized in 15 different cities in Europe and Canada.[1] The starting point for the project, in which the choreographer was working with participants of diverse backgrounds such as elderly, young people and photographers, was the human mass. Another well-known production by Christine De Smedt is Untitled 4 (2012), based on four interviews with the choreographers and dancers Alain Platel, Jonathan Burrows, Eszter Salamon and Xavier Le Roy, and in which she increasingly becomes at the same time the portrayed persons themselves.[9] For the festival Dansand! II in Ostend, she created in 2010 together with Mette Edvardsen the mass choreography The Long Piece. Together with Eszter Salamon, she created the duet dance#2 (2012),[10] and with Myriam Van Imschoot PickUpVoices (2008),[11] that mixed historical research with performance.

Other collaborations as a dancer

As a dancer, she also collaborated on Gerhard Richter, une pièce pour le théâtre (Mårten Spångberg, 2017), Oidipous, my foot (Jan Ritsema, 2011), Artificial Nature Project (Mette Ingvartsen, 2012), Project (Xavier Le Roy, 2003), Low Pieces (Xavier Le Roy, 2011), Temporary Title (Xavier Le Roy, 2015), nvsbl (Eszter Salamon, 2006) and dance#1/Driftworks (Eszter Salamon, 2008). Furthermore, she collaborated on the video installation Dead Reckoning (2008) [12] by Philipp Gehmacher and Vladimir Miller.

Research projects

With Eszter Salamon, Christine De Smedt developed in 2009 Transformers, a research project for a group choreography through workshops and artists' residences in Brussels, Madrid, PAF-St. Erme, Mexico City, Vienna, Tokyo and Stockholm. In May 2014, she collaborated on Spatial Confessions, a four-day program of Bojana Cvejic in Tate Modern, which examined through choreographic experiments publicness in places exhibiting contemporary art.[13]

Collaboration with P.A.R.T.S.

Christine De Smedt was Pedagogical Coordinator of the Training Cycle 2013-2016 at P.A.R.T.S., the International School of Contemporary Dance in Brussels.[14]

Productions

Own work:

  • Weibliche Bewegungsfigur 094210 (Christine De Smedt and Damien Deceuninck, 1989)[15]
  • La force fait l’union fait la force (Christine De Smedt, 1993)[16]
  • Crash Landing (Christine De Smedt, David Hernandez and Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1996-1999)[17]
  • Escape Velocity (Christine De Smedt in collaboration with Els Opsomer, Germaine Kruip and Vincent Malstaf, 1998)[18]
  • Untitled 4 (Christine De Smedt, 2010)[19]
  • 9 x 9 (Christine De Smedt, 2010)[20]
  • The Long Piece (Christine De Smedt and Mette Edvardsen, 2010)[21]
  • dance#2 (Christine De Smedt and Eszter Salamon, 2016)[22]

With others:

  • Mussen (Alain Platel / les ballets C de la B, 1991)[23]
  • How to approach a dog (Hans Van den Broeck / les ballets C de la B, 1992)[24]
  • Disfigure Study (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, restaging in 1996)[25]
  • No One Is Watching (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1995)[26]
  • Splayed Mind Out (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods en Gary Hill, 1997)[27]
  • Schreibstück - Version Christine De Smedt, Gent (BE) (Thomas Lehmen, 2002-2004)[28]
  • Project (Xavier Le Roy, 2003)[29]
  • nvsbl (Eszter Salamon, 2006)[30]
  • dance#1/Driftworks (Eszter Salamon, 2008)[31]
  • The Mirror Points (Gary Hill, 2009)[32]
  • Oidipous, my foot (Jan Ritsema, 2011)[33]
  • Low Pieces (Xavier Le Roy, 2011)[34]
  • The Artificial Nature Project (Mette Ingvartsen, 2012)[35]
  • Temporary Title (Xavier Le Roy, 2015)[36]
  • Gerhard Richter, une pièce pour le théâtre (Mårten Spångberg, 2017)[37]

Videography
  • La force fait l’union fait la force (Johan Grimonprez, 1994, 3min) [38]
  • 'UNDER INFLUENCE' (Sidney Leoni, 2016, Hiros, 1H13min) [39]

References
  1. Biography of Christine De Smedt on the website of les ballets C de la B
  2. Pieter T’Jonck, Alain Platel / les ballets C de la B, in: Dans & Publiek - Een Dossier van Kunstenpunt
  3. Biography of Christine De Smedt on the website of ImPulsTanz - Vienna International Dance Festival
  4. Page about Summer Intensive on the website of les ballets C de la B
  5. Page about Disfigure Study (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1991) on the website of Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods
  6. Page about No One Is Watching (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1995) on the website of Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods
  7. Page about Splayed Mind Out (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods and Gary Hill, 1997) on the website of Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods
  8. Page about Crash Landing (1996-1999) on the website of Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods
  9. Page about Untitled 4 (Christine De Smedt, 2012) on the website of the Kaaitheater
  10. Page about dance#2 Archived 2017-06-11 at the Wayback Machine on the website of Eszter Salamon
  11. Page about PickUpVoices (Myriam Van Imschoot and Christine De Smedt, 2008) Archived 2017-07-29 at the Wayback Machine on the website Oral Site
  12. Page about Dead Reckoning (Philipp Gehmacher and Vladimir Miller, 2008) on the website of Philipp Gehmacher
  13. BMW Tate Live: Spatial Confessions (On the question of instituting the public)- A four-day programme in moving and speaking parts
  14. Biography of Christine De Smedt Archived 2017-07-29 at the Wayback Machine on the website of Beursschouwburg
  15. Hildegard De Vuyst, De omgekeerde redenering, in: Etcetera, 1989-12, Volume 7, Issue 28, p. 38-41
  16. Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 270
  17. Page about Crash Landing (Christine De Smedt, David Hernandez and Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1996-1999) on the website of Damaged Goods
  18. Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 274
  19. Page about Untitled 4 (Christine De Smedt, 2010) on the website of les ballets C de la B
  20. Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 277
  21. Page about The Long Piece (Christine De Smedt and Mette Edvardsen, 2010) on the website of Mette Edvardsen
  22. Page about dance#2 (Christine De Smedt and Eszter Salamon, 2016) on the website of the Kaaitheater
  23. Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 269
  24. Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 269
  25. Page about Disfigure Study (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, restaging in 1996) on the website of Damaged Goods
  26. Page about No One Is Watching (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1995) on the website of Damaged Goods
  27. Page about Splayed Mind Out (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods en Gary Hill, 1997) on the website of Damaged Goods
  28. Page about Schreibstück - Version Christine De Smedt, Gent (BE) (Thomas Lehmen, 2002-2004) Archived 2018-02-11 at the Wayback Machine on the website of Thomas Lehmen
  29. Page about Project (Xavier Le Roy, 2003) on the website of Xavier Le Roy
  30. Page about nvsbl (Eszter Salamon, 2006) Archived 2018-04-27 at the Wayback Machine on the website of Eszter Salamon
  31. Page about dance#1/Driftworks (Eszter Salamon, 2008) Archived 2017-09-08 at the Wayback Machine on the website of Eszter Salamon
  32. Page about The Mirror Points (Gary Hill, 2009) on the website of the Louvre
  33. Page about Oidipous, my foot (Jan Ritsema, 2011) on the website of the Kaaitheater
  34. Page about Low Pieces (Xavier Le Roy, 2011) on the website of Xavier Le Roy
  35. Page about The Artificial Nature Project (Mette Ingvartsen, 2012) on the website of Mette Ingvartsen
  36. Page about Temporary Title (Xavier Le Roy, 2015) on the website of Xavier Le Roy
  37. Page about Gerhard Richter, une pièce pour le théâtre (Mårten Spångberg, 2017) on the website of the Kunstenfestivaldesarts
  38. Page about La force fait l’union fait la force (Johan Grimonprez, 1994) on the website of ARGOS, centre for art and media
  39. Page about 'UNDER INFLUENCE' (Sidney Leoni, 2016) on the website of Hiros

Sources

Further reading
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