« Béla will be a création about the power of movement and music »
For Béla, a creation that will take place during the 2025-2026 season, we wanted a very percussive composition, made of complex and musically powerful dynamics and rhythms: music full of life that provokes you to dance. Over the past decade, we have made sure that our dance is generous, both in terms of physicality and the commitment it demands from the dancers, while nevertheless maintaining the precision and articulation of the movements. Working on the musicality of the movements is also an integral part of our choreographic language. So, when the Belgian contemporary music ensemble Ictus came up with the idea of working with us on Béla Bartók’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion (1938), we immediately accepted this wonderful challenge. It is a work they played some 30 years ago, at the start of Ictus. This sonata was exactly what we were looking for musically, a very strong and explosive piece whose material is constantly transformed. The sonata, which lasts about 25 minutes, will be central to a wider selection of musical works.
From the start, you are captivated by the music and its development, despite the pauses and variations. The first movement, which oscillates between abstraction and a burst of energy, is very danceable despite its sometimes dizzying speed and abrupt interruptions. The whole movement buzzes with echoes, imitations of one instrument by another, canons and fugatos – everything becomes diffuse, multiplies. It’s as if nature abounds, a rhapsodic composition that exudes chaos through the intense richness of rhythmic, melodic and sonic themes. We want the dance to be part of this density with a vibrant energy: unfolding in space amid the interactions between the pianos and percussion, so that the stage begins to incarnate the first movement of the sonata, which teems with life and multipleness.
Claire Croizé
Claire graduated from P.A.R.T.S. in 2000. Her graduation project, Donne-moi quelque chose qui ne meure pas, was hailed by the French press as one of PARTS@PARIS's discoveries. Claire began working with the support of WP Zimmer (Anvers) in 2006, and premiered Affected at STUK (Leuven), an internationally acclaimed performance consisting of three solos for three women on Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder.
From 2014 to 2021, Claire created a number of pieces (Primitive, EVOL, Flowers we (are) Duet for two string trios, ...) including Mer- which she co-signed with Etienne Guilloteau.
In March 2023, Claire was invited by the Theatre Bremen to come and work with the ensemble of the theatre, Unusual Symptoms. Together with the electric guitar-quartet ZWERM and drummer Karen Willems, she created Fabula. The prog-rock and psychedelic sound of Zwerm's album, "Great Expectations", meets figures from Greek mythology and texts by the Italian writer Cesare Pavese, which Claire Croizé contrasts with the individual gestural languages of the dancers. The performance remains on tour in Germany, Belgium and France. Also in 2023, at the invitation of the vocal ensemble HYOID voices, Claire assisted Joris Lacoste on the creation of the performance A-Ronne by Luciano Berio.
An important aspect of Claire's artistic career is her experience in facilitating workshops with different audiences. The places where she has given workshops include P.A.R.T.S. (Brussels), International Dance Dialogues with Janet Panetta (NY), Arts Station Foundation (Poland), and STUK (Leuven). In addition to her impressive portfolio, Claire has worked as a dancer for Caterina Sagna, Andy Deneys, Etienne Guilloteau, Hooman Sharifi, Jean-Luc Ducourt, Philippe Blanchard, Alexander Baervoets, Anabel Schellekens and Kris Verdonck.
Etienne Guilloteau
After a few years at the Poitiers Conservatory, he joined P.A.R.T.S. in 1998, and completed his studies in 2002 with the solo Love me two times, which was the subject of an international tour. He immediately began his collaboration with wpZimmer in Anvers, where he directed the duets Skènè (2004), with Claire Croizé, and La Magnificenza (2006), performed with the dancer Vincent Dunoyer and with Hans Meijer, who became his lighting designer.
In 2008, Etienne created two "études": Prima dell'atto, a children's piece on the music of Debussy presented as part of the Krokus festival in Hasselt, and DAAD, a solo on the music of John Cage ("Experiences") presented as part of "Hit the stage" at the Monty (Anvers) in 2009. At the Kunstenfestivaldesarts 2010, he premiered Tres Scripturae, a piece for three dancers, a pianist (Alain Franco) and a lighting designer (Hans Meijer). In 2013, he created The Gyres, commissioned by TDT (Toronto Dance Theater); his love duet Synopsis of a Battle (2013); and Feu (2015), a solo for the talented Argentinian dancer Cecilia Lisa Eliceche. with live music by the electric guitar quartet ZWERM. In November 2015, he was invited by the DIALOGE Festival in Salzburg to create Zeit-Bild, a piece for eight dancers from the SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance) to music performed live by the oenm (Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik). For the 2016 production, 7 Dialogues by the German ensemble Dance On, Etienne developed a short solo for Ami Shulman. In 2016, he also created a performance with 9 young dancers from the ungdomskompani esc, The Diamond Sea, which opened Oktoberdans in Bergen.
Etienne created some piece with Claire Croizé : Mer- (2017), Pole Reports from Space (2019) and Our solo (2023). In addition to his choreographic work, Etienne has danced for several people such as Vincent Dunoyer, Rosas, Charlotte Vanden Eynde and especially Marc Vanrunxt. He has also designed the lighting for several shows such as Nada Gambier's Once Upon A Time in Petaouchnok and Busy Rocks' Dominos and Butterflies. He has been working as a dramaturg for Croizé's creations for more than 20 years.
Studio’s opening: Thursday, October 2 or 9, 2025 at 7:30pm
Free on reservation: adriana.falcone@ccnr.fr
Premiere: February 6, 2026 at Concertgebouw Brugge
Concept & choreography: Claire Croizé & Étienne Guilloteau
Dancers: Claire Godsmark, Laure de Dietrich, Cintia Sebök and two others
Musicians: ICTUS/ Jean-Luc Plouvier, Alain Franco, Tom de Cock and Gerrit Nulens
Music: Béla Bartók, Sonata pour deux pianos et percussions sz110 ; compositions appeaux.
Sound engineer: Alex Fostier
Lighting designer: Hans Meijer
Costumes: Anne-Catherine Kunz
Production: ECCE et ICTUS
Distribution and communication ECCE: Carine Meulders
Chief Financial Officer ECCE: Christel Simons
Coproduction: Concertgebouw Brugge, Bozar (pour Ictus), STUK, Perpodium, Centre Chorégraphique National de Rillieux-la-Pape, Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen en Normandie
Current residencies: STUK, ICTUS/Rosas, Concertgebouw Brugge
With the support of the Flemish Government and the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government
Photo: Our solo, © Koen BroosCas