Interview with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
In the end, you and Anani managed to find a common language…
It took a while, but we did get there! It was a challenge for me, at the start, as his approach to the relationship between music and dancing is very different from our methods. I’m more analytical – I use scores, whereas for him it’s all purely instinctive. But Anani is terribly eager to learn. The Steve Reich evening was decisive because of the lack of time, and the pressure – in order to guide him I had to open other doors for him.
Would you describe his method as “African”?
That would be simplistic. His reference point is intuition. I was blocking him. But I didn’t want to force anything at all on him. We had to find a balance between my concept of space and his own inspiration.
Did you learn from him?
Definitely. The very first thing was to re-examine things I took for granted. He’s a very generous young man; he’s not afraid to venture into unknown territory and isn’t really aware of the danger. That gives him great freedom. And since he’s determined, he’ll give things a try.
But what method did you use to help him advance?
To begin with, doing things very tightly, being very rigorous, and getting him to work within that framework – then letting him go so that he’d let himself go and let his instinct take over.
To you, does his talent seem obvious?
Yes, obvious. But it’s in a very particular register, because of his past. To be able to help him, I tried to adapt to it. His dancing is very closely related to architecture and the earth. He dances very low down, crouching, deeply rooted in his origins. His style of dancing always carries an element of history, as it always tells stories. This results in a form which is brought about by movement, transported by his energy. He is more the intuitive type. The very opposite of me!
You often use the word “disturbing” when talking about your work with him…
Because it is! He forces me to ask myself questions about what can be globalised and shared when you link dance, music and identity. What dominates? That’s a problem.
It’s hard to imagine that two people with such dissimilar personalities wouldn’t clash sometimes...
I soon felt I had responsibility for him. He has the faults that go with his qualities, so he needs to work on a certain rigour, a certain realism.
What’s your favourite memory?
Being alone with him. When he’s not here with us, like at the rehearsals just now, I miss him. He needs more of our technique before he can join the company. But he’s a determined young man. He’ll get there. When this mentoring experience is over, I hope we’ll continue to see one another and dance together.