A piece by Myriam Van Imschoot and Christine De Smedt that mingles historical research, performance and shadow play.

Premiere during the Intimate Strangers Festival, December 5-6-7, Brussels

Concept: Myriam Van Imschoot
Creation and performance: Myriam Van Imschoot and Christine De Smedt
Soundsamples: Vincent Malstaf
Outside eye and co-researcher: Kristien Van den Brande
Produced by Damaged Goods; co-produced by Les Ballets C. de la B. and Sarma
With special thanks to Kaaitheater, Workspace Brussels, Jeroen Peeters, Jo Huybrechts, and to Jérôme Bel, Maria La Ribot, Xavier Le Roy and Mark Tompkins for letting us pick up their voices.

PICK UP VOICES is based on ‘Crash Landing Revisited (and more)’, a research project that Myriam Van Imschoot led since 2007 and that operates as an umbrella structure for collaborative artistic research on improvisation, oral history & sound, and catastrophe aesthetics. It was hosted in residences at Kaaitheater (2007-2008) and in 2009 at the Jan Van Eyck Academy. Its name refers back to the central case study in this project, Crash Landing, an improvisation performance series curated by Meg Stuart, Christine De Smedt and David Hernandez between 1996 and 1999.

Intimate Strangers is a mini-festival curated by Meg Stuart revolving around distance and proximity between audience and performers. During one weekend dance, music, video, research and installation are presented randomly and without hierarchy. Apart from performances and concerts at Kaaitheater and Beursschouwburg, audiences can experience short performance acts, each with its own approach, in various private homes. PICK UP VOICES is such a performance act and can be witnessed by subscribing for the Intimate Strangers Parcours at Kaaitheater.

Tickets Intimate Strangers Parcours: € 12.50 / € 10.00
Departure at Kaaitheater, arrival at Beursschouwburg
Duration 2 h 30 m.
Check the website of Kaaitheater for more information and the exact time of departure.

Sarma presents a video program at KRAN FILM SPACE

December 11, 8.30pm – Place Saint Géry 26, 1000 Brussels

1. Video lecture by Eric De Kuyper: about Dance at the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958 (2008, 27’, Dutch-French)

How did the World Exhibition help to create such a thing as a Belgian dance culture? How was the Expo ideology crystallized in dance criticism? The Belgian writer and filmmaker Eric De Kuyper reads and comments upon some dance critiques of 1958. An intimate and priviliged meeting with history.

2. Between Two Chairs, by Jorge Leon (2006, 16’, English)

The American dancer Ronald Burchi moved to Europe but didn't manage to tie work permits to his actual working situation and ended up with an illegal status - a situation which is actually more common in the dance world than we know or want to admit. Between Two Chairs sheds light on the many realities of the “Alien Resident”, showing the fragile balance between the artistic visibility of international artists and their social and political rights.

3. 10 minutes, by Jorge Leon (2008, English)

A small kitchen alarm clock sets the time. A young Eastern European woman ends up in the Brussels prostitution network. She has exactly 10 minutes to finish a customer. We learn her story by the testimony she gives to the police. The video 10 minutes was realized in the framework of the International Day against Traffic in Human Beings.

4. Fax Film, by Myriam Van Imschoot & Pablo Castilla (30’, 2008)

In an empty space an unattended fax machine receives page after page the names of the people who participated in Crash Landing, the legendary improvisation performance series initiated by Meg Stuart, Christine De Smedt and David Hernandez at the end of the nineties. Winking to the genre of film credits, the alternation of appearance and disappearance of names, some very famous by now, others close to oblivion, raise the question of the politics of the name.

Kran Film is an international collective of people working with film from a non-traditional approach. Its mission is to create a network that empowers its members to exchange experience and knowledge, expand their production and distribution possibilities, and showcase their works to the general public. KRAN FILM Space is a versatile storefront space that comprises of a Cinema, Archive, and HQ for Kran Film Collective. It's a place that welcomes individual DIY initiatives and collaborations.

More information about Kran Film: www.kranfilm.net

# ANNOUNCEMMENTS #

In October Sarma and Workspace Brussels submitted a joint dossier for structural funding. Workspace Brussels is a Brussels based organisation that aims at supporting young artists in research, creation, production and presentation of their projects. Together we will invest in more dramaturgical assistance for young artists.

Sarma is supported by the Flemish Authorities and the Flemish Community Commission.

Check our website: www.sarma.be

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