Gedeelde grond (‘Shared ground’) 23: listen to a new episode with Joke Laureyns
In Gedeelde grond (‘Shared ground’), Ann Overbergh talks to arts professionals and artists about their practice, careers, concerns and dreams for our arts sector. The idea originated in 2023, born out of a desire to gain a better understanding of everyone’s practice. After 23 episodes, we are discontinuing the podcast due to budget cuts.
Listen below to the final conversation with Joke Laureyns, co-founder of kabinet k.
We are trying to show content from PodBean.
Kunsten.be only uses minimal cookies. To view content by a third party website, this site can place additional cookies. By continuing to browse you are agreeing to the use of those third party cookies.
Read more about our privacy policy?
Summary
Joke Laureyns has been the driving force behind kabinet k for 25 years, alongside her partner Kwint Manshoven. Kabinet k creates dance performances that focus, amongst other things, on the presence of children on stage, live music and the influence of the visual arts. In recent years, the organisation has undergone a period of renewal.
“I feel as though we’ve come back to life after a period when we thought that might be the end of it,” explains Joke. “We weren’t sure whether kabinet k would still be around in its current form. Having created our production Bron, it feels as though we’re back. As though we’ve just come out of a long hibernation.”
That turning point came after a turbulent period. “That has a lot to do with the fact that Kwint and I are life partners and work, create and live together, but have also gone through a crisis together. Turning fifty certainly played a part in that. But also simply looking at the field, and not feeling at ease in the situations you find yourself in. And thinking: OK, maybe it’s over.”
At the same time, organisational choices were under pressure. Ever since Kabinet K’s very first production, children have been on stage with them. “That wasn’t an explicit choice; it just started that way, and it felt so right that it became a language of its own. But society is changing so rapidly that you start to think your image of children is no longer accurate. It remains incredibly important that a kind of physical freedom continues to exist, and a connection between a small and a large body that isn’t necessarily fraught with tension, or that doesn’t immediately have to be pigeonholed under safety concerns, or the question ‘is this even allowed?’ I find it very alarming that this question always arises immediately in that context.”
“The administrative burden involved in working with a child at all is so big. Right from the start, we at kabinet k felt that the hours we work and create, the way we tour and travel, how we spend time together, and how we organise everything, are all linked to the fact that there are always children involved who aren’t doing this professionally. You have to take families and schools into account. There have been years when we’ve been lucky enough to be able to tour a great deal. But there comes a point when you say, ‘It can’t be any more than this’, because otherwise a child spends too little time at school and with their family.”
There are two of us, but we don’t have any children. And for 25 years now, we’ve realised that as long as we can put food on the table, that’s enough for us. We live a rich life because we’ve had so many wonderful experiences that we wouldn’t have had in any other profession.
Although kabinet k is often praised as an innovator in work for young audiences, this is not its primary target group. “For me, young audiences are just as welcome in the theatre as any other audience. And, just like any other individual, they’re free to watch with complete freedom and take away whatever they see.” Another constant, alongside working with young performers, is the political and social engagement in their work. “There has always been a commitment to places where things are tougher than they are here. That is a major driving force for us in our creative process, without being documentary in nature.”
Read (or re-read) the full interview via the link below.
