A Dance Allegory
For this research project, Elisabeth turned to the historical perspective of Romanticism to ask a new dramaturgical question: what if she abandoned the desire for coherence and harmony in the score? What if integrity and purity are no longer paramount?
Elisabeth Borgermans developed an affinity for craftsmanship in her work: a way of being and of making dance that emphasises the integrity of the body and the material. To this end, she continuously gathered influences that permeate her choreography in an embodied mix of dance, romantic poetry and music. In her pursuit of unity, she created a danced score that tries to be unfinished, always hungry for external perspectives and stimuli. She plays with the tension between the desire for order and the opposing forces of self-conscious irony and nauseating impurity.
“During a three-week residency at our studio in Tilburg, Elisabeth Borgermans surprised me the day before the official studio presentation with the research material for A Dance Allegory. With heart-wrenching self-mockery and poetic effectiveness, she demonstrated the drive and desperation of a young woman in a solo. Zigzagging between casual precision and reckless abandon, she made me curious about every next movement, glance and breath. In an earlier conversation, Elisabeth and I talked about the need to 'put yourself on the line' and what that might be. It was clear she had found that." - Heleen Volman (artistic director from 2013-2021).
For this project, Elisabeth had residencies and presentations at P.A.R.T.S./Rosas Summerstudios (BE), Training Centre Destelheide (BE), Companhia Instável (PT), Teatro Rivoli (PT), DansBrabant and Brussels Community Centres. She collaborated with Thomas Vantuycom (Rosas) as outside eye and Heleen Volman (DansBrabant) for dramaturgical support. She also worked with 11 local professional dancers in Porto to help carry out her research.