RAIN Opens at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen This Month

Rain by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, set to music by Steve Reich, is one big, vibrant dance party. The choreography is a key work from the middle period of De Keersmaeker’s development, in which she further explores her fascination for Reich’s minimalist music. The mathematical figures, continuous repetition, geometric use of space, the art of continuous variation – everything that has gradually come to represent the choreographer’s signature can be found in Rain.

This time she is working to Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, which will be performed live in this production by musicians from the Brussels Philharmonic and Ictus and four voices from the Flemish Radio Choir. In contrast to the short musical patterns in Piano Phase and Clapping Music – two choreographies that Opera Ballet Vlaanderen presented with great success last season – Reich focuses here on wave movements with pulsating chords and melodic patterns. It inspired De Keersmaeker to a complex use of the stage space in which we discover forms such as spirals – one of her most characteristic figures – in different dimensions, in addition to other mathematical principles such as the golden mean.

Ten dancers are on the stage for more than an hour in this work, which is bordered by a rain curtain created by set designer Jan Versweyveld. Dries Van Noten designed costumes with a colour palette that refers to the passing of the seasons.

The title of the choreography was inspired by a novella of the same name by the New Zealand author Kirsty Gunn, who was one of the early sources of inspiration for the performance. In the novella, rain is a metaphor for the vitality of life, but also for saying goodbye to it. In addition, according to De Keersmaeker, the title also refers to the rain scenes in Shakespeare, such as King Lear or Macbeth, as well as to the song Rain by Madonna.

Rain is a thrilling dance of joy and an unmissable contemporary classic that is now being given a place in the repertoire of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, so that a new generation can experience this masterpiece.

On the occasion of Rain, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen is organising a one-day symposium in collaboration with STUK and the University of Antwerp. This symposium will take place on Tuesday 17 September at Opera Ghent. The programme will be announced later.

Performance Dates

Opera Ghent | 11 September At 20:00 

Concertgebouw Bruges | 23 October At 20:00