Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, born in 1960 in Mechelen, Belgium, is considered one of the most influential innovators in the realm of contemporary dance. Her very first production Asch (1980) already exhibited an extraordinary sensibility for the close mutual interplay of movement and music. Again and again, she has sought out collaborations with contemporary composers or engaged intensely with existing compositions. Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich was the first of several joint projects with the American pioneer of minimal music.
In 1983, De Keersmaeker founded the company ROSAS. That same year, she created ROSAS danst ROSAS to music composed by Thierry de Mey and Peter Vermeersch. From 1992 to 2007 ROSAS was company-in-residence at Brussels’ Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, for which De Keersmaeker choreographed several operas. In her most recent pieces, she has increasingly been working with artists from various disciplines, in Zeitung (2008) with Alain Franco, in The Song (2009) with Ann Veronica Janssens and Michel François, and finally in 3 Abschied (2010) with Jérôme Bel. In 1995, De Keersmaeker founded Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (or P.A.R.T.S.): based in Brussels, it is one of the most important centers today for research and training in dance and performance, and De Keersmaeker remains its director today.
For her artistic work, she has received numerous awards, in 2000 she was named Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. In 2012, A Choreographer’s Score was published, an extensive volume documenting her work. The conversations and video lectures offered insights into the process of her works’ emergence. At Ruhrtriennale 2012, Anne Teresa De Keersmaker presented En Atendant and Cesena. In 2013, she and her Ensemble ROSAS present the world premiere of Vortex Temporum; before, De Keersmaeker will also have featured in the duet Partita 2, her collaboration with French choreographer and dancer Boris Charmatz.