Modern XX Dance Company: Rosas - Achterland

Modern XX Dance Company: Rosas - Achterland

A brilliantly filmed version of Achterland, the stunning, adventurous dance work from the avant-garde Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Unlike many filmed dance pieces, Achterland is directed by De Keersmaeker herself, who brings a choreographer's talent to the camera, reflecting the work's structures and themes in highly developed cinematic form. The original cast was largely reassembled for the film; the piece was adapted to the new medium, with choreographic revisions appropriate to cinematic expression.

First performed at La Monnaie in 1990, Achterland has become a critical part of the repertoire of Rosas, De Keersmaeker's acclaimed company. More than eighty versions have been staged in cities throughout the world. Set to music by the contemporary composers Eugéne Ysaye and György Ligeti, the piece evinces an exuberant mood - a departure for De Keersmaeker's at the time of the work's premiere - as it explores tensions between man and woman and movement and music with playful, athletic dancing and striking imagery and costumes.