Christine De Smedt is a Belgian dancer and choreographer. Her artistic work is situated on the boundary between dance / performance, choreography, artistic coordination and artistic projects of various kinds.
Early life and education After completing her studies in criminology, Christine De Smedt became interested in dance and performance and began to study different techniques for motion research.Biography of Christine De Smedt on the website of les ballets C de la B
Career Les ballets C de la B From 1991 to 2012, De Smedt was a member of les ballets C de la B, the Ghent dance company founded by Alain Platel, which was also home for a long time to Hans van den Broeck, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Koen Augustijnen.Pieter T’Jonck, Alain Platel / les ballets C de la B, in: Dans & Publiek - Een Dossier van Kunstenpunt She danced in Mussen (Alain Platel, 1991) and was assistant director on How to approach a dog (Hans Van den Broeck, 1992). From 2003 to 2005 she was the artistic coordinator of les ballets C de la B.Biography of Christine De Smedt on the website of ImPulsTanz - Vienna International Dance Festival In 2010 she initiated the first Summer Intensive, a residence in studio 3 at les ballets C de la B.Page about Summer Intensive on the website of les ballets C de la B
Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods In 1992, De Smedt was part of the interdisciplinary SKITE project (laboratoire de nouvelles formes chorégraphiques) in Paris, where her first artistic encounter with the American choreographer Meg Stuart took place. She also collaborated with Meg Stuart and her company Damaged Goods between 1995 and 1999. In 1996, she danced in the remake of Stuart's debut choreography Disfigure Study (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1991), and assisted the choreographer as a coach for this remake.Page about Disfigure Study (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1991) on the website of Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods In addition, she worked as a dancer on No One's Watching (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1995)Page about No One Is Watching (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1995) on the website of Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods and Splayed Mind Out (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods and Gary Hill, 1997) ).Page about Splayed Mind Out (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods and Gary Hill, 1997) on the website of Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods Together with Meg Stuart and choreographer / dancer David Hernandez, she initiated the multi-disciplinary improvisation project Crash Landing (1996-1999).Page about Crash Landing (1996-1999) on the website of Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods
Own choreography De Smedt started her own work in the period when she was a member of les ballets C de la B. Her debut was the dance solo La force fait l'union fait la force (1994). One of her best-known projects from that period is 9x9 (2000), a large-scale choreographic project that was realized in 15 different cities in Europe and Canada. The starting point for the project, in which the choreographer was working with participants of diverse backgrounds such as elderly, young people and photographers, was the human mass. Another well-known production by De Smedt is Untitled 4 (2012), based on four interviews with the choreographers and dancers Alain Platel, Jonathan Burrows, Eszter Salamon and Xavier Le Roy, and in which she increasingly becomes at the same time the portrayed persons themselves.Page about Untitled 4 (Christine De Smedt, 2012) on the website of the Kaaitheater For the festival Dansand! II in Ostend, she created in 2010 together with Mette Edvardsen the mass choreography The Long Piece. Together with Eszter Salamon, she created the duet dance#2 (2012),Page about dance#2 on the website of Eszter Salamon and with Myriam Van Imschoot PickUpVoices (2008),Page about PickUpVoices (Myriam Van Imschoot and Christine De Smedt, 2008) on the website Oral Site that mixed historical research with performance.
Other collaborations as a dancer As a dancer, she also collaborated on Gerhard Richter, une pièce pour le théâtre (Mårten Spångberg, 2017), Oidipous, my foot (Jan Ritsema, 2011), Artificial Nature Project (Mette Ingvartsen, 2012), Project (Xavier Le Roy, 2003), Low Pieces (Xavier Le Roy, 2011), Temporary Title (Xavier Le Roy, 2015), nvsbl (Eszter Salamon, 2006) and dance#1/Driftworks (Eszter Salamon, 2008). Furthermore, she collaborated on the video installation Dead Reckoning (2008) Page about Dead Reckoning (Philipp Gehmacher and Vladimir Miller, 2008) on the website of Philipp Gehmacher by Philipp Gehmacher and Vladimir Miller.
Research With Eszter Salamon, De Smedt developed in 2009 Transformers, a research project for a group choreography through workshops and artists' residences in Brussels, Madrid, PAF-St. Erme, Mexico City, Vienna, Tokyo and Stockholm. In May 2014, she collaborated on Spatial Confessions, a four-day program of Bojana Cvejic in Tate Modern, which examined through choreographic experiments publicness in places exhibiting contemporary art.
Teaching De Smedt was Pedagogical Coordinator of the Training Cycle 2013-2016 at P.A.R.T.S., the International School of Contemporary Dance in Brussels.Biography of Christine De Smedt on the website of Beursschouwburg
Productions Own work: Weibliche Bewegungsfigur 094210 (Christine De Smedt and Damien Deceuninck, 1989)Hildegard De Vuyst, De omgekeerde redenering, in: Etcetera, 1989-12, Volume 7, Issue 28, p. 38-41 La force fait l’union fait la force (Christine De Smedt, 1993)Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 270 Crash Landing (Christine De Smedt, David Hernandez and Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1996-1999)Page about Crash Landing (Christine De Smedt, David Hernandez and Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1996-1999) on the website of Damaged Goods Escape Velocity (Christine De Smedt in collaboration with Els Opsomer, Germaine Kruip and Vincent Malstaf, 1998)Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 274 Untitled 4 (Christine De Smedt, 2010)Page about Untitled 4 (Christine De Smedt, 2010) on the website of les ballets C de la B 9 x 9 (Christine De Smedt, 2010)Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 277 The Long Piece (Christine De Smedt and Mette Edvardsen, 2010)Page about The Long Piece (Christine De Smedt and Mette Edvardsen, 2010) on the website of Mette Edvardsen dance#2 (Christine De Smedt and Eszter Salamon, 2016)Page about dance#2 (Christine De Smedt and Eszter Salamon, 2016) on the website of the Kaaitheater
With others: Mussen (Alain Platel / les ballets C de la B, 1991)Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 269 How to approach a dog (Hans Van den Broeck / les ballets C de la B, 1992)Hildegard De Vuyst and Alain Platel, Les Ballets C. de la B., Lannoo, 2006, p. 269 Disfigure Study (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, restaging in 1996)Page about Disfigure Study (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, restaging in 1996) on the website of Damaged Goods No One Is Watching (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1995)Page about No One Is Watching (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, 1995) on the website of Damaged Goods Splayed Mind Out (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods en Gary Hill, 1997)Page about Splayed Mind Out (Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods en Gary Hill, 1997) on the website of Damaged Goods Schreibstück - Version Christine De Smedt, Gent (BE) (Thomas Lehmen, 2002-2004)Page about Schreibstück - Version Christine De Smedt, Gent (BE) (Thomas Lehmen, 2002-2004) on the website of Thomas Lehmen Project (Xavier Le Roy, 2003)Page about Project (Xavier Le Roy, 2003) on the website of Xavier Le Roy nvsbl (Eszter Salamon, 2006)Page about nvsbl (Eszter Salamon, 2006) on the website of Eszter Salamon dance#1/Driftworks (Eszter Salamon, 2008)Page about dance#1/Driftworks (Eszter Salamon, 2008) on the website of Eszter Salamon The Mirror Points (Gary Hill, 2009)Page about The Mirror Points (Gary Hill, 2009) on the website of the Louvre Oidipous, my foot (Jan Ritsema, 2011)Page about Oidipous, my foot (Jan Ritsema, 2011) on the website of the Kaaitheater Low Pieces (Xavier Le Roy, 2011)Page about Low Pieces (Xavier Le Roy, 2011) on the website of Xavier Le Roy The Artificial Nature Project (Mette Ingvartsen, 2012)Page about The Artificial Nature Project (Mette Ingvartsen, 2012) on the website of Mette Ingvartsen Temporary Title (Xavier Le Roy, 2015)Page about Temporary Title (Xavier Le Roy, 2015) on the website of Xavier Le Roy Gerhard Richter, une pièce pour le théâtre (Mårten Spångberg, 2017)Page about Gerhard Richter, une pièce pour le théâtre (Mårten Spångberg, 2017) on the website of the Kunstenfestivaldesarts
Videography La force fait l’union fait la force (Johan Grimonprez, 1994, 3min) Page about La force fait l’union fait la force (Johan Grimonprez, 1994) on the website of ARGOS, centre for art and media 'UNDER INFLUENCE' (Sidney Leoni, 2016, Hiros, 1H13min) Page about 'UNDER INFLUENCE' (Sidney Leoni, 2016) on the website of Hiros
References
External links Bellon, Michaël. Christine De Smedt & Eszter Salamon - De daad bij het woord, Brussel Deze Week / Agenda, nr. 1462, 18/02/2015, p. 16 Christine de Smedt, Les Ballets C de la B: 9x9, in: Program of the conference Kollektivkörper. Theorie und Performance in Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin, 8 - 10 June 2001 Christine De Smedt on Kunstenpunt (KSP)