yasen vasilev & lou jonas
- CONTREDANSE
Created in 1984 by dancer, improviser, and dance researcher Patricia Kuypers, Contredanse aims to foster choreographic creation and thought in dance through training, editing and information. Since 1990 it includes a documentation center founded by Claire Destrée. The resources gathered over the years focus on body-based thinking and practitioners' know-how, opening up a broad field of practices such as improvisation, somatic practices, contemporary dance and creative processes. It is in this space, filled with countless stories and bodies, that a collective reflection on movement research will take place.
With a passion for visual and performing arts, Lou Jonas’s path has unfolded at the intersection of several disciplines. After studying anthropology and performing arts, she worked as a researcher and curator at the Ludwig Forum, Aachen, on the project “Video Archive”, reflecting on current challenges in the documentation, care, and presentation of time-based art. She then traveled in Europe, with a happy stop in Greece where she co-founded the Artistic Engineering Lab. In tandem with materials engineer Konstantina Terzaki she developed workshops for children exploring new approaches to science, drawing inspiration from the works of contemporary visual artists. Back in Belgium since 2023, she joined Contredanse as a documentalist, providing support to research and preservation in the field of dance.
Yasen Vasilev graduated from the theatre academies of Sofia and Shanghai, and is currently working in the field of contemporary dance and performance with dramaturgy, critical writing, and artistic research. His works NUTRICULA (in collaboration with Kwame Boafo) and IMPOSSIBLE ACTIONS were developed in Asia (Shanghai and Taipei) and presented internationally. His latest work, THE MANY-HEADED BODY, deals with the redistribution of agency within collective bodies, and was structurally supported by the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp, Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, and co-produced by Toplocentrala in Sofia.
As production dramaturg he currently maintains a working relationship with Belgian artists Milø Slayers, Ehsan Hemat, Astrid Sweeney, and Julien Carlier/compagnie Abis.
He co-authored a ‘Letter for transnational fair practice’ in the frame of Kunstenpunt’s project A Fair New Idea, and had essays about equity, the status of the artist and the infrastructures of the independent scene commissioned by Culture Action Europe, European Dancehouse Network, Taiwan Art Space Alliance, Asia-Europe Foundation, and Maska, among others.
Since 2025 he is the new artistic coordinator of Bâtard festival in Brussels, together with Milø Slayers.
what about movement research today?
| 30.06 / | 10h-13h30 |
An invitation to dive into the archives of Contredanse starting from the question “What about movement research today?”
After a contextualization, introduction and short presentation, this workshop will be: part reading group, part horizontal discussion, part silent walk, where the group will explore different modes of collective attention.