Drumming (1998) is one of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s most iconic choreographies, written to the eponymous, minimalistic percussion score by Steve Reich. The music starts with a single rhythmic motif, which subsequently multiplies and unfolds into a rich cornucopia of textures including drums, woodwinds, brass and voice. Reich here ramps up the technique already used in his earlier composition Piano Phase: through minor tempo accelerations the musicians almost imperceptibly push their unison out of joint, resulting in a never-ending volley of canons. In the dance, the choreographic complexity was devised in a similar fashion: a single movement phrase serves as the foundation for an infinite number of variations across time and space. When the music stops and the bodies come to a halt, the audience realizes what they have witnessed: a wave of pure dance and pure sound, a vortex of vital energy.

Choreography Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Danced by Kim Amankwaa, Bostjan Antoncic, Laura Bachman, Alex Blondeau, Cassandre Cantillon, Lav Crncevic, Sophia Dinkel, José Paulo dos Santos, Léa Dubois, Anika Edström Kawaji, Papis Faye, Rafael Galdino, Frank Gizycki, Yuika Hashimoto, Thomas Higginson, Audrey Merilus, Mariana Miranda, Laura Maria Poletti, Margarida Ramalhete, Soa Ratsifandrihana, Lena Schattenberg, Cintia Sebők, Jacob Storer, Mamadou Wagué

Music Steve Reich, Drumming

Musicians Ictus

Set and lighting Jan Versweyveld

Costumes Dries Van Noten