INVITED

INVITED draws material from intensive research into (stage) space and co-authorship in contemporary dance. In his new production, Seppe Baeyens formulates his artistic response to the question of how the audience can help write the choreography of a performance. Taking dance as a common language, in the space of one hour he wants to look for an alternative way of living together and thereby establish a community embracing the cast and the audience.

INVITED consists of a varied intergenerational group of performers who reflect society. The audience plays an important part, as well as the stage design. It connects and divides, becomes visible and invisible, and leads audiences and performers through a collectively written choreography. For a moment, we see a glimpse of a community without prejudice, where everyone can be themselves in a liberating experience.

The lights go out. A man starts singing. A child joins in. The sixty-year-old sitting next to you then also joins the round. You can immediately sense that in INVITED the boundary between inside and outside, viewer and performer, active participation and passive watching will become blurred. Theatre, as an art of the here and now, is proud of its capacity to create communities, but this is more often a myth than a reality. Not in Baeyens’ case however. His social intelligence and eye for composition and structure make INVITED a compelling, disarming experience.

**** De Standaard, Charlotte de Somviele