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Fase 2002 / 50' Director: Thierry de Μey Choreographer: Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker Music by: Steve Reich Photography: Thierry de Mey Editing: Rudi Maerten, Performers: Rosas:A.T. de K. & Michelle Anne de Μey Production: Sophimages , ARTE, rtbf, nps, Rosas, Citta di Bruges Belgium Fase is a self-contained choreography and at the same time much more than a simple collection of four parts. The choice of gestural material, the arrangement of space, light, etc. have consciously been submitted to a total "dramaturgy," which informs the four parts. This search for choreographic unity is also apparent in the deliberate play with certain key motifs: In the Piano Phase, the straight line alternates in the dance with the circle (the dancers are turning on their axes); in Come Out, the dancers also describe circles, only this time seated on chairs; in the Violin Phase solo, the entire stage is used, criss-crossed by circles and diagonals. In Clapping Music, it is the straight line that prevails once again. The common characteristic of the four movements is the division in short sequences constantly repeated and modified little by little. It might be said that Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, in her elaboration of her vocabulary of dance, expresses herself in litotes for the first time. Simple phrases change in repeating themselves, combining and recombining in forming longer units. The language of Phase, a work often branded as minimalist, is essentially abstract: There is no narrative; interpreters do not evoke characters. With Phase, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker traces a theme of pivotal prominence in her subsequent works: that of the specific relation between music and dance. Her gestural language may well evolve dramatically in the course of time, but the point of departure for De Keersmaeker's choreographies will always be an in-depth analysis of the score employed. The governing idea in her work is that dance could under no circumstances be content with only providing an illustration of the music. On the contrary, the choreography must articulate in a highly personal and self-sufficient manner certain underlying elements of the chosen composition. For the twentieth anniversary of Rosas in 2002, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker asked filmmaker Thierry De Mey to make a cinematic version of Fase. Earlier on, De Mey also filmed other choreograpic works of De Keersmaeker (Rosas danst Rosas, Tippeke). De Mey selected a suitable location in Belgium for each of the four movements comprising Fase: Felix Pakhuis, an impressive factory setting in Antwerp, just prior to the renovation of the building, the top floor of Coca-Cola's new office building in Anderlecht, the woods of Tervuren and the dance company's large rehearsal space in Brussels. Extraordinary camera angles, attention to positioning in space, poetic cinematography and the precision of the montage endow the filmed version of this minimalist and repetitious work with a surprising and unforgettable dynamic. [ back to the list ]