Impressions of „TRIPTYK“ in Eupen

It echoes…

‘Triptych’ with solo dance pieces by Fanny Brouyaux, Loraine Dambermont and Leïla Ka at the Alter Schlachthof Eupen

Text by Natalie Broschat

Video by Klaus Dilger

‘To be schieve or a romantic attempt’ by the Belgian Fanny Brouyaux

Fanny Brouyaux, who was sponsored by the Reseau Grand Luxe network in 2023/24, will open the sold-out Saturday evening and combine the ‘nervous moods of the Italian composer Paganini’ with spasmophilia syndrome in her solo. The syndrome is also known in German-speaking countries as ‘chronic tetanic syndrome’, occurs with magnesium deficiency or hyperventilation and manifests itself through increased neuromuscular excitability. The violin virtuoso and composer Niccoló Paganini (1782 – 1840) was famous for being afraid of his violin and not being able to twist his joints, which is known among experts as Marfan syndrome. The high concentrations of mercury contained in many medicines of the past certainly contributed to his poor health. However, he invented violin fingerings that only he could master, was popular with women and demonised by men, and was even said to have made a pact with the devil because he could play the violin so well. One of his specialities was the perfect interplay between a simultaneous wild bow stroke with the right hand and a difficult pizzicato with the left hand; plucking the strings with the fingers independently of the bow stroke. Movements and physical characteristics that Fanny Brouyaux explores in her solo.

She is initially cloaked in silence, her blue silk blouse and black shorts complementing her silver-painted hands and the thick blue stripe of colour above her lips perfectly. She stands calmly at the edge of the stage, her hair tied back in a plait, and starts to move with ever-increasing flinching movements. She positions her hands as if there were a violin between them and plays them briefly and eruptively. While Paganini played his violin, he often spread one leg, which is also physically quoted in Fanny Brouyaux’s work, like the over-fluttering fingers. Slowly, she develops a special quality of movement: she puts her hands on her hips, circles her arms, bends her head and in this choppy physicality is also reminiscent of a bird. It gets dark and she swaps her blouse for a short black blouse and undoes her plait. In this concert attire and surrounded by dangerous, erotic light, she moves in a familiar manner. But she seems to want to free herself from the ‘schieve’ (Belgian dialect for twisted or crazy). The crazy bird wants to come to rest, to escape the gaze of the audience. At first imperceptible, the music by Patrick Belmont and Yann Leguay then becomes more and more driving, and Fanny Brouyaux develops into her or a self before everyone’s eyes. Until, at the end, she stands silently in front of the audience again and breaks out into a final, eccentric gesture. Black Out. She has created a powerful dance requiem for Paganini.