A young dancer wearing an elaborate costume lies on the floor during a dance phrase, legs stretched upward at an angle toward the ceiling.

Electric Life

Elisabeth Borgermans, Thomas Vantuycom/fABULEUS & Brussels Philharmonic

Choreographers Elisabeth Borgermans and Thomas Vantuycom draw on Stravinsky’s masterpiece Petrushka as inspiration for a new dance creation featuring nine young performers.

Rather than returning to the original 1911 ballet, they embark on a search for the unexplored worlds hidden within the music. Stravinsky’s score is rich in contrasts: without warning, it propels you from one atmosphere to another. This immediacy reflects the spirit of the early 20th-century modern human, a time when electricity and machines reshaped city life and set the world buzzing with new energy. Electric Life investigates what place the human body still holds in our increasingly digitized existence.

Credits

Choreography
Elisabeth Borgermans, Thomas Vantuycom
Dance
Nolan Decreton, Lauryn De Ruyck, Kiko Labarque-Persyn, Celien Mertens, Louis Staquet, Annabel Van Acker, Tess Van der Sanden, Maïté van Genugten, Len Vanhove
Music
Igor Stravinsky, Alain Franco en Raphaël Hénard
Musical dramaturgy
Alain Franco
Costumes
Alexandra Sebbag
Assistance costumes
Nina Souquet, Tommie Yanez
Lighting
Kurt Lefevre
Production
fABULEUS
Co-production
Perpodium, Brussels Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Brugge, STUK
With the support of
The city of Leuven, the Flemish Community, the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government

Images

  • A young dancer in a fluorescent orange costume poses prominently, while a second dancer in the background appears more withdrawn.
    © Clara Hermans
  • A young dancer caught mid-movement in an energetic, off-balance movement as several other performers look on.
    © Clara Hermans
  • Young dancer stepping as if over an invisible obstacle, focused gaze forward, with two dancers in the background leaning sideways in a crouched pose.
    © Clara Hermans
  • Nine young performers cluster tightly in a group, their bodies and gestures conveying aversion, discomfort, and distress.
    © Clara Hermans
  • A young dancer bends forward in a half-crouch, facing the white dance floor, with three other dancers in the background.
    © Clara Hermans