Ode to a Love Lost / afterglow
After the operatic performances A Revue and Madrigals in which Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe travels through the black holes of the future and the past, he is now creating his first performance as a permanent maker under the banner of Toneelhuis. His work challenges the classical repertoire: dancers become singers, singers become dancers. Meirhaeghe asks for unashamed access to great emotions while giving pleasure to the half-skilled, striving for a different kind of virtuosity.
Run time tba
Genre musical theatre
Language Dutch
Ode to a Love lost / afterglow
We mainly know Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe as a director and countertenor in his own operatic musical projects, but in his new creation he allows himself to be seduced into dance. Meirhaeghe himself will be on stage, engaging in an intimate artistic dialogue between a number of young choreographers. He is musically accompanied by the Berlin singer/songwriter Finn Ronsdorf on soul and blues piano and is accompanied by performers Jelle Haen and Désirée Cériocien.
Meirhaeghe created The Ballet in 2018 with his then lover and muse. This mythologised relationship still inspires Meirhaeghe. Think of love stories between Diaghilev and Nijinsky, Wilde and Boosie, Warhol & Basquiat, and all the passionate but unrequited loves that have not withstood the struggle of aesthetics.
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Meirhaeghe has always had a fascination and urge for a nostalgic beauty. He likes to enter the world of dance, fashion, hypes and bravado, in which the body and ideals of perfection are central. All his life he idolised several lovers for this reason, but he also abhors them. -|- In this performance, the focus is on his own body, influenced by Western standards and ideals of beauty, which can be seen in art and advertising, among other things. With a lost love as the engine, a deep crater as a landscape and a double relationship with the norm, Meirhaeghe literally moves towards liberation.
Ode to a Love Lost is named after the song of the same name by singer/songwriter Finn Ronsdorf who will also provide live music.
Finn Ronsdorf grew up in the Black Forest and later moved to bustling Berlin. The soul and blues singer started singing early, but only later ventured up to the piano. You can hear influences from artists such as Otis Redding, Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell in his music.
Credits
concept, direction and performance
Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe
performers Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe, Finn Ronsdorf, Jelle Haen, Désirée Cerocién
dramaturgy Louise van den Eede, Kopano Maroga
scenography and lighting Bart van Merode, Zaza Dupont
choreography coaching Hanako Hayakawa, Sophie Rodriguez-|-
vocal coaching Wouter Deltour
body coaching Sten Dielen
sound design Laurens Mariën
video Charles Dhondt
campaign image Anton Fayle
production Toneelhuis
