Body of Work. Doing Dance Heritage

STUK
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The Body of Work podcast of STUK explores the joys and challenges of dance heritage work.  The first season focuses on dance repertory from the dancers' perspective.  The transmission of dance from body to body, audience to audience, is what keeps dance alive. Repertory - choreographies from the past, revived, and performed again in the present - is a way of connecting us to work from the past.  Through interviews with dance practitioners in the Flemish and international contemporary dance scene, we tap into lively stories, vast experience and deep insight, directly from the dance studio and the stage. STUK, House for Dance, Image and Sound is an art center in Leuven, Belgium.  This podcast is made possible by DanceMap, funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union's funding programme for research and innovation.  CREDITS concept Delphine Hesters  researcher & narrator Tessa Hall  interviews Tessa Hall, Katharina Smets, Delphine Hesters  podcast maker Katharina Smets  intern podcast maker Teresa Van Eycken  sound/music Inne Eysermans  mix Inne Eysermans & Yves De Mey  voices Mélanie Lomoff, Ross McCormack, Rosalba Torres Guerrero, Laura Maria Poletti, Clinton Stringer, Jacob Storer, Jan Martens, Steven Michel, Naomi Gibson, Elisha Mercelina, Dan Mussett, Jim Buskens, Stijn Vandenbroucke, Loes Meulemans, Michèle Anne De Mey, Yuika Hashimoto, Tale Dolven, Soa Ratsifandrihana, Madison Vomastek, Jonathan Burrows, Franz Anton Cramer, Timmy De Laet, Madeline Ritter and Delphine Hesters  thanks to laGeste, Rosas, GRIP, Klankverbond The Body of Work podcast and the oral research project from which it draws its source material, are part of DanceMap, funded by the European Union (Horizon Europe).

Episodes

  1. APR 9

    Introduction. Welcome to Body of Work. Doing Dance Heritage

    In this introductory episode we lay out the episodes of this season of the Body of Work podcast, and take the opportunity to speak with Delphine Hesters, coordinator of dance heritage at STUK.  Sound featured in the episode: Stage recordings from Bartók / Beethoven / Schönberg, by Rosas/Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, recorded by Olivia Rochette and Gerard-Jan Claes. Music: Grosse Fuge, op.133, by Ludwig van Beethoven, played live by Ictus — Field recordings from THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER 2.0 rehearsals, by Katharina Smets — Live sound from Out of Context – For Pina, by Alain Platel. Music: Sam Serruys, featuring the voices of the cast. Recorded by Beeldstorm, March 2023 — Theme music composed by Inne Eysermans. Voices of: Delphine Hesters, Naomi Gibson, Laura Maria Poletti, Clinton Stringer, Jacob Storer, Ross McCormack, Tale Dolven, Timmy De Laet, Madeline Ritter.  Narration: Tessa Hall

    18 min

  2. APR 8

    Episode 1. Jumping through time. Transmitting THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER

    THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER, by Jan Martens, premiered in 2014. Now, 11 years later, this complex and exhausting choreography has returned to the stage as THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER 2.0. During the final month of rehearsals before the premiere, we went into the studio to meet the people behind this revival. We hear what it takes to pass on this highly demanding work - from the new cast of dancers, to rehearsal directors who were members of the original cast, to health professionals providing physical support and Jan Martens himself. What is it like to shift from being on-stage as a dancer to off-stage as a transmitter? How do the dancers manage their energy in these final intensive rehearsals? What has been learnt from the time of the creation and first years of touring that can be built on this time?  Sound featured in the episode: Field recordings by Katharina Smets — Theme music composed by Inne Eysermans. Voices of: Jan Martens, Steven Michel, Naomi Gibson, Elisha Mercelina, Dan Mussett, Jim Buskens, Stijn Vandenbroucke, Loes Meulemans.  Interviews: Katharina Smets  Narration: Tessa Hall

    58 min

  3. APR 8

    Episode 2. Dance archeology. Working with the repertory of Rosas

    Rosas, the dance company of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, has developed an extensive and diverse repertoire over the years. This means that Rosas provides a rich case study to explore questions of repertory. We can examine the various roles in the repertory field: from original to new cast member, from rehearsal director to repertory teacher. We can unpack the different approaches to transmission used in restagings and recreations, and in schools. Most of all, by talking to those busy in the studio and on the stage, we can hear what it’s like to dig into the layers of time and the different iterations of multiple performers. We hear what it takes to keep dance repertoire vibrant, evening after evening; to dance other people’s roles, yet always being yourself.  Laura Maria Poletti, Clinton Stringer and Jacob Storer generously contemplate their approaches to repertory by sharing their stories and perspectives - from joys to complexities, questions to solutions. Sound featured in the episode: Stage recordings from performances by Rosas/Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, recorded by Olivia Rochette and Gerard-Jan Claes: Bartók / Beethoven / Schönberg. Music: Grosse Fuge, op.133, by Ludwig van Beethoven, played live by Ictus — Drumming. Music: Drumming, by Steve Reich, played live by Ictus — The Song — Come Out, by Steve Reich (Nonesuch Records) — Theme music composed by Inne Eysermans. Voices of: Laura Maria Poletti, Clinton Stringer, Jacob Storer Interviews and narration: Tessa Hall

    55 min

  4. APR 8

    Episode 3. Out of Context - for Pina. What if we danced this work forever?

    When we think of dance repertoire, we think of pieces that are passed on from generation to generation. But Alain Platel’s Out of Context – For Pina is different. After premiering in 2010 and touring the world extensively, its time on stage was due to end. Until the cast of Out of Context had another idea… 15 years later, the same dancers who created the piece are still performing it at least once a year.  In this episode, we meet three of the performers—Mélanie Lomoff, Ross McCormack and Rosalba Torres Guerrero—to hear what it takes to perform this piece again and again. What impact does the annual ‘check-in’ with each other and with the audience have on the individuals and the group? What is it like to be confronted with aging as a dancer? How does the choreography change over time, or how do the dancers change within it?  Sound featured in the episode: — Live sound from Out of Context – For Pina, by Alain Platel. Music: Sam Serruys, featuring the voices of the cast. Recorded by Beeldstorm, March 2023 — Theme music composed by Inne Eysermans. Voices of: Mélanie Lomoff, Ross McCormack, Rosalba Torres Guerrero Interviews and narration: Tessa Hall

    50 min

  5. APR 8

    Episode 4. Forty years of Unfolding Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich

    In 1982, before her company Rosas even existed, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker premiered Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich. Over the years, Fase has been passed on to multiple generations of dancers, meaning that over 40 years later, the story of this piece continues. In 2025, STUK’s annual dance heritage festival, Body of Work - Unfolding Fase, was fully built around this classic in Flemish contemporary dance. As part of the festival’s exhibition interviews with dancers from different generations were shared. In this episode, we open up the exhibition archives to share those interviews. In this episode we listen to Michèle Anne De Mey—the original dancing partner of De Keersmaeker, Tale Dolven, who took over De Mey’s role, Yuika Hashimoto and Soa Ratsifandrihana of the third cast, and Madison Vomastek—one of the newest members of Fase’s lineage at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen. They unfold the intricacies, challenges and humanness of dancing this iconic piece.  Sound featured in the episode: Piano Phase, by Steve Reich. Performed by Jean-Luc Fafchamps and Jean-Luc Plouvier, 2008 — Come Out, by Steve Reich (Nonesuch Records) — Theme music composed by Inne Eysermans. Voices of: Michèle Anne De Mey, Tale Dolven, Yuika Hashimoto, Soa Ratsifandrihana, Madison Vomastek  Interviews: Delphine Hesters Narration: Tessa Hall First montage: Hennie Roukaerts

    44 min

  6. APR 8

    Episode 5. Doing dance heritage – a conversation

    This final episode takes the opportunity to further unravel the question of ‘doing’ dance heritage from multiple perspectives. Moving beyond the stage and studio, we travel around Europe to meet Madeline Ritter, initiator of DanceMap and a leading advocate of dance heritage, Franz Anton Cramer with a background in archiving dance, Timmy De Laet, a dance studies professor at the University of Antwerp, and Jonathan Burrows who is a choreographer and works at Coventry University.  From a zoomed out lens, this episode weaves together a conversation of ideas and questions: How can archiving play an active role in the intangible heritage of dance? How can the embodied knowledge of the dancer find its place in history? What are the sticky points of heritage of a living art form—the problems, issues and stumbling blocks? As we continue doing dance heritage, what can be reimagined, repurposed and refocused?  This may be the final episode of the season, but let’s see where the conversation takes us! STUK is participating in DanceMap, a dance heritage research project funded by the European Union (Horizon Europe). The people featured in this episode are connected to DanceMap in various ways.  Sound featured in the episode: Stage recordings from Bartók / Beethoven / Schönberg, by Rosas/Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, recorded by Olivia Rochette and Gerard-Jan Claes. Music: Grosse Fuge, op.133, by Ludwig van Beethoven, played live by Ictus — Field recordings from THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER 2.0 rehearsals, by Katharina Smets — Live sound from Out of Context – For Pina, by Alain Platel. Music: Sam Serruys, featuring the voices of the cast. Recorded by Beeldstorm, March 2023 — Theme music composed by Inne Eysermans. Voices of: Jonathan Burrows, Franz Anton Cramer, Timmy De Laet, Madeline Ritter  Interviews and narration: Tessa Hall

    47 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

The Body of Work podcast of STUK explores the joys and challenges of dance heritage work.  The first season focuses on dance repertory from the dancers' perspective.  The transmission of dance from body to body, audience to audience, is what keeps dance alive. Repertory - choreographies from the past, revived, and performed again in the present - is a way of connecting us to work from the past.  Through interviews with dance practitioners in the Flemish and international contemporary dance scene, we tap into lively stories, vast experience and deep insight, directly from the dance studio and the stage. STUK, House for Dance, Image and Sound is an art center in Leuven, Belgium.  This podcast is made possible by DanceMap, funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union's funding programme for research and innovation.  CREDITS concept Delphine Hesters  researcher & narrator Tessa Hall  interviews Tessa Hall, Katharina Smets, Delphine Hesters  podcast maker Katharina Smets  intern podcast maker Teresa Van Eycken  sound/music Inne Eysermans  mix Inne Eysermans & Yves De Mey  voices Mélanie Lomoff, Ross McCormack, Rosalba Torres Guerrero, Laura Maria Poletti, Clinton Stringer, Jacob Storer, Jan Martens, Steven Michel, Naomi Gibson, Elisha Mercelina, Dan Mussett, Jim Buskens, Stijn Vandenbroucke, Loes Meulemans, Michèle Anne De Mey, Yuika Hashimoto, Tale Dolven, Soa Ratsifandrihana, Madison Vomastek, Jonathan Burrows, Franz Anton Cramer, Timmy De Laet, Madeline Ritter and Delphine Hesters  thanks to laGeste, Rosas, GRIP, Klankverbond The Body of Work podcast and the oral research project from which it draws its source material, are part of DanceMap, funded by the European Union (Horizon Europe).

Information