{{short description|Belgian choreographer}} {{Infobox person | name = Alain Platel | image = Alain Platel ca1997.jpg | caption = Alain Platel (2021) | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1956}} | birth_place = Ghent, Belgium | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | education = | occupation = {{plainlist| * Choreographer * Director }} | organizations = {{plainlist| * les ballets C de la B}} | website = https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/biographies/alain-platel/biography/ }}
'''Alain Platel''' (born 9 April 1956) is a Belgian choreographer and director.<ref name=AdK/><ref name="Who'sWho" /> In 1984, he founded les ballets C de la B, which has been called 'one of the world's most influential dance theatre companies'.<ref name=Guardian/> Platel came to prominence alongside choreographers like Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and Wim Vandekeybus in what became known as the Flemish Wave.<ref name=FlandersToday/><ref name=Wave/><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Stalpaert |editor1-first=Christel |editor2-last=Cools |editor2-first=Guy |editor3-last=De Vuyst |editor3-first=Hildegard |date=2020 |title=The Choreopolitics of Alain Platel's les ballets C de la B: Emotions, Gestures, Politics |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |page=2 |isbn=978-1-3500-8001-0}}</ref>
==Career== ===Early years (1956–1984)=== Alain Platel was born in Ghent in 1956.<ref name=AdK/> In 1969, he was accepted to study at the Hoste-Sabbattini Mime Centre in Ghent.<ref name=AdK/> He trained as a remedial educationalist, working with physically and mentally disabled children, but continued to study mime (with Wim Vandekerckhove) and later to take courses at the Paul Grinwis Academy of Ballet.<ref name=Timescapes/><ref name=Montréal/><ref name=AdK/> In 1980, he attended a contemporary dance workshop led by the Canadian choreographer Barbara Pearce in Paris, and went on to dance in her production ''Patchwork''.<ref name=PremioEuropa/><ref name=AdK/> As a director, Platel is self-taught.<ref name=Montréal/><ref name=Timescapes/>
===Les ballets C de la B (1984–2003)=== Platel founded les ballets C de la B in 1984 on a dare from a former teacher.<ref name=Guardian/><ref name=Trencsényi/> Along with his sister Pascale and their friend Johan Grimonprez, Platel devised and staged a performance in his loft in Ghent (''Stabat Mater'').<ref name=Avignon/><ref name=FlandersToday/> They ironically called themselves 'Les Ballets Contemporains de la Belgique': a name which stuck, albeit in a shortened form.<ref name="Who'sWho" /><ref name=Guardian/><ref name=Trencsényi/> A producer from Antwerp's De Beweeging Festival was present at the performance and invited the newly formed company to perform at the festival.<ref name=PremioEuropa/> ''Stabat Mater'' was the first in a succession of small-scale productions made by les ballets C de la B during the late 1980s and early 1990s, for which Platel shared directing roles with other members of the company.<ref name=Guardian/><ref name=Projectlist/>
Les ballets C de la B quickly achieved a modest level of national success, but their major break came in 1993, when a group of international theatre programmers happened to see Platel's ''Bonjour madame…'' at a festival in Amsterdam, which led to European tour bookings and a rapidly growing profile on the international dance scene.<ref name=Guardian/>
Between 1993 and 2003, les ballets C de la B produced an increasing number of larger-scale projects, securing international commissions and state funding from the Flemish government.<ref name=Guardian/><ref name=Wave/> Run as a collective, the company's performers were encouraged to develop their own choreography and Platel shared directing duties with other members including Hans Van den Broeck, Christine De Smedt and Koen Augustijnen.<ref name=Projectlist/> Platel's productions included three collaborations with the author and theatre-maker Arne Sierens and Ghent-based youth theatre company Victoria (''Moeder en kind'', ''Bernadetje'', ''allemaal indiaan'').<ref name=Montréal/><ref name=Kear/><ref name="Who'sWho" /> At the same time, Platel began incorporating live musicians within his choreography, in a series of productions constructed around the work of famous composers, beginning with ''La Tristeza Complice'' (1995), a co-production with the music theatre company LOD muziektheater, which featured music by Henry Purcell arranged for ten accordionists.<ref name=Trencsényi/><ref name=Turner/> This was followed by ''Iets op Bach'' (1998): the first of several works based on music by the director's favourite composer, J. S. Bach.<ref name=Tauberbach1/>
Platel organised the Beste Belgische Danssolo competition between 1995 and 1997, open to solos of any style and designed to discover new talent. The first competition was won by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, who subsequently performed in ''Iets op Bach'' and would go on to choreograph many of les ballets C de la B's productions.<ref name=Danssolo/>
Shortly after making ''allemaal indiaan'' (1999), Platel announced that he would no longer be making productions.<ref name=Montréal/> Nevertheless, he returned to les ballets C de la B in 2003 with ''Wolf'', commissioned by the Ruhrtriennale, which used music by Mozart and counted fourteen dogs among its performers.<ref name=Guardian/>
===Hiatus and return to directing (2003–)=== During his hiatus from directing, Alain Platel studied sign language and continued to work with amateur and semi-professional performers from varied backgrounds, as documented in his collaborations with the documentarian Sophie Fiennes (''Because I Sing'', 2002; ''Ramallah! Ramallah! Ramallah!'', 2004).<ref name=FlandersToday/><ref name=Timescapes/><ref name=Artangel/> In 2006, Platel directed his own full-length documentary about the dancers of les ballets C de la B, entitled ''les ballets de ci de là''.<ref name=Timescapes/><ref name=Territory/> In the same year, Platel returned to the company as a director, with ''vsprs'' (2006), based on Monteverdi's Vespers. This production cemented the director's collaboration with the composer Fabrizio Cassol, which began with the participatory choral project ''Uit de Bol'' (2006), and would continue with ''pitié!'' (2008), ''Coup Fatal'' (2014) and ''Requiem pour L.'' (2018).<ref name=Montréal/><ref name=Platt/>
Since 2006, Platel has continued to direct new work with les ballets C de la B, usually in collaboration with other artists. ''Nine Finger'' (2007) was made with actor Benjamin Verdonck and Fumiyo Ikeda of Rosas, while ''Gardenia'' (2010) and ''En avant, marche!'' (2015) were collaborations with the director Frank Van Laecke and Platel's regular music director Steven Prengels.<ref name=Montréal/><ref name=Gardenia/>
Platel currently lives in Ghent.<ref name=AdK/>
==Style== In his own productions and in his influence on the overall aesthetics of les ballets C de la B, Alain Platel's work is characterised by the extensive, often chaotic combination of dance, theatre, live music, circus and other performance styles.<ref name=PremioEuropa/><ref name=FlandersToday/> Most of his later productions are structured around live performances of famous classical works, with the musicians being fully involved in the choreography. A particularly grand example of this is ''C(H)ŒURS'' (2011), which featured the 72-person chorus of the Teatro Real Madrid performing operatic choruses by Wagner and Verdi.<ref name=CHOEURS/> Often, the music is extensively reconstructed or rearranged by Platel's musical collaborators; ''Coup Fatal'' (2014) involves a Congolese band performing Baroque arias, while ''nicht schlafen'' (2016) combines music by Mahler with African polyphonic chant.<ref name=CoupFatal/><ref name=Londondance/><ref name=Platt/>
Platel's productions have always involved varied ensembles of performers with different skills, levels of training, backgrounds and body types, including amateurs, children and elderly performers.<ref name="Who'sWho" /><ref name=Trencsényi/><ref name=PremioEuropa/> His work includes large-scale celebrations of amateur performance, such as ''Because I Sing'' (2001) which featured sixteen London choirs (reprised in 2006 in Brussels as ''Uit de Bol/Coup de chœurs''), and ''le Sacre du Printemps'' (2018): a 'mass choreography' that involved 300 participants from various Ghent dance groups.<ref name=Artangel/><ref name=Sacre/> ''Gardenia'' featured a cast of seven drag queens, all aged between 55 and 65 years, inspired by the closing of a Barcelona drag cabaret.<ref name=Gardenia/>
Platel's choreographic work is also concerned with the unconscious: with uncontrolled, unconditioned or arbitrary movements, tics and spasms, which he has described as 'bastard dance'.<ref name=Context/><ref name=Tauberbach2/><ref name=Montréal/> The movement material explored in projects such as ''vsprs'' (2006), ''Out of Context — for Pina'' (2010) and ''tauberbach'' (2014) was informed by Platel's own experience working with disabled children and adults.<ref name=Citron/><ref name=Tauberbach1/><ref name=Context/>
Platel has acknowledged Pina Bausch as an important inspiration, calling himself 'a child of Bausch'.<ref name=Londondance/>
== Europe Theatre Prize == In 2001, he was awarded the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities, in Taormina, with the following motivation:<blockquote>Alain Platel has pursued an artistic career, rather than a profession or a craft. He is a unique personality, and has no parallel in the world of dance and theatre. His work as a social educator has led him to be deeply concerned with the human condition in his native region: East and West Flanders, and Ghent in particular. He is able to communicate, without artificiality or affectation, all the anxieties, contradictions, desperation, dreams and drives of a fascinating and tragic young generation that he truly empathises with. His productions, from ''Bonjour Madame...'' to ''Tous des Indiens'', have been staged throughout Europe, despite the fact that they are (or precisely because they are) completely rooted in the life of the Flemish suburbs. This only goes to show that, by freely combining theatre, music and dance in the "family portraits" he renders so well, Alain Platel has succeeded in revealing the universality of human soul.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Europe Theatre Prize - IX Edition - Reasons |url=https://archivio.premioeuropa.org/open_page.php%EF%B9%96id=750.html |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=archivio.premioeuropa.org}}</ref></blockquote>
==Awards and honours (selection)== * 1990: Prix Saint-Denis for ''Concours, Pièces de Concours'' at the Concours Choréographique International de Bagnolet<ref name=AdK/><ref name=Awardlist/> * 1996: Mobil Pegasus Prize for ''La Tristezza Complice'' at the International Summer Theatre Festival, Kampnagel, Hamburg * 1996: Awarded Masque d’Or de la Production Etrangère (Canada) for ''Moeder en Kind''<ref name=Territory/> * 1998: Time Out Live Award (UK) for ''Iets op Bach'' * 1999: Masque d'Or de la Production Etrangère (Canada) for ''Iets op Bach'' * 2001: Europe Prize Theatrical Realities<ref>{{Cite web |title=IX Edizione |url=https://www.premioeuropa.org/ix-edizione/ |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=Premio Europa per il Teatro |language=it-IT}}</ref> * 2001: Ubu Prize for the best foreign production (Milan) for ''allemaal indiaan'' * 2001: Platel made Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la République Française<ref name=Timescapes/> * 2002: Frank Van Acker Prize (City of Bruges) * 2004: Theatertreffen 3sat Prize for ''Wolf'' * 2007: Kontakt Festival Grand Prix for ''vsprs'' * 2011: Dora Mavor Moore Award (Toronto) for ''Out of context — for Pina'' * 2012: Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Artois, France * 2014: Champagne Prize * 2015: Platel made Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la République Française * 2015: Flemish Culture Prize for General Cultural Merit * 2015: Grand Prix de la Danse, Montreal * 2015: Herald Angel Award for ''En avant, marche!'' at the Edinburgh International Festival * 2016: Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Ghent * 2016: Gold Medal of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and Art * 2017: Catalan Performing Arts Critics Award for ''nicht schlafen'' * 2017: "Prix de la Critique" Special Jury Prize (Belgium) for ''nicht schlafen''<ref name=Awardlist/>
==Productions== ===With les ballets C de la B (selection)=== * ''Stabat Mater'' (1984) — with Johan Grimonprez and Pascale Platel<ref name=AdK/><ref name=Projectlist/> * ''Lichte Kavalerie'' (1985) — with Pascale Platel, Kate Vos, Alexander Claeys and Johan Grimonprez * ''Mange p’tit coucou'' (1986) — with Alexander Claeys * ''Alchemie'' (1987) * ''Emma'' (1988) — with Alexander Claeys * ''Architectuur als buur'' (1988) * ''O Boom'' (1989) — with Johan Grimonprez * ''Mussen'' (1990) * ''Bonjour madame, comment allez-vous aujourd'hui, il fait beau, il va sans doute pleuvoir, etcetera.'' (1993) * ''Moeder en kind'' (1995) — with Arne Sierens and Victoria * ''La Tristeza Complice'' (1995) — music by Dick van der Harst, after Henry Purcell * ''Bernadetje'' (1996) — with Arne Sierens and Victoria * ''Iets op Bach'' (1998) — music by J.S. Bach and Prince * ''allemaal indiaan'' (1999) — with Arne Sierens and Victoria * ''Wolf'' (2003) — music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart * ''Uit de Bol/Coup de cœurs'' (2006) — with Fabrizio Cassol * ''vsprs'' (2006) — based on Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers * ''Nine Finger'' (2007) – with Fumiyo Ikeda and Benjamin Verdonck * ''pitié!'' (2008) — with Fabrizio Cassol, based on J. S. Bach's St Matthew Passion * ''Out of Context'' - for Pina (2010) * ''Gardenia'' (2010) — with Frank Van Laecke * ''C(H)OEURS'' (2012) — music by Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner * ''tauberbach'' (2014) – music by J. S. Bach * ''Coup Fatal'' (2014) — with Serge Kakudji, Rodriguez Vangama and Fabrizio Cassol * ''En avant, marche!'' (2015) — with Frank Van Laecke and Steven Prengels * ''nicht schlafen'' (2015) — music by Gustav Mahler * ''Requiem pour L.'' (2018) – with Fabrizio Cassol, based on Mozart's Requiem<ref name=Projectlist/>
===Other projects (selection)=== * De Beste Belgische Danssolo (1995–1997) — with Victoria * ''Because I Sing'' (2001) — with Orlando Gough * ''les ballets de ci de là'' (2006) * ''Nachtschade'' (2006) – with Victoria<ref name=Montréal/>
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last1=Platel |first1=Alain |last2=De Vuyst |first2=Hildegard |date=2006 |title=Les ballets C de la B |location=Tielt |publisher=Lannoo |isbn=978-90-209-6443-1}} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Stalpaert |editor1-first=Christel |editor2-last=Cools |editor2-first=Guy |editor3-last=De Vuyst |editor3-first=Hildegard |date=2020 |title=The Choreopolitics of Alain Platel's les ballets C de la B: Emotions, Gestures, Politics |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-3500-8001-0}}
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Trencsényi>{{cite book |last=Trencsényi |first=Katalin |chapter='An Experiment in Democracy': Alain Platel's Collaborative Dramaturgy |editor1-last=Stalpaert |editor1-first=Christel |editor2-last=Cools |editor2-first=Guy |editor3-last=De Vuyst |editor3-first=Hildegard |date=2020 |title=The Choreopolitics of Alain Platel's les ballets C de la B: Emotions, Gestures, Politics |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |pages=34–36 |isbn=978-1-3500-8001-0}}</ref> <ref name=Guardian>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/may/05/ballets-c-de-la-b |title=Step-by-step guide to dance: Les Ballets C de la B |last=Roy |first=Sanjoy |date=5 May 2010 |website=The Guardian |publisher= |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=AdK>{{cite web |url=https://www.adk.de/de/akademie/sektionen/darstellende-kunst/mitglieder.htm?we_objectID=55035 |title=Alain Platel CV |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Akademie der Künste |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Avignon>{{cite web |url=https://www.festival-avignon.com/en/artist/2014/alain-platel |title=Portrait: Alain Platel |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 2014 |website=Festival d'Avignon |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Montréal>{{cite web |url=http://prixdeladanse.com/en/laureat/alain-platel/ |title=Laureate 2015: Alain Platel |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Les Prix de la Danse de Montréal |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Territory>{{cite web |url=https://territoryfest.com/people/?ID=3057 |title=Alain Platel |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Territory Festival |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Timescapes>{{cite web |url=http://www.timescapes.be/directors/alain-platel |title=Alain Platel: Director |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Timescapes |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Londondance>{{cite web |url=http://londondance.com/articles/interviews/in-depth-read-alain-platel-discusses-the-challenge/ |title=Interview: Alain Platel discusses the challenges of grappling with Mahler |last=Rawal |first=Tejas |date=27 June 2017 |website=Londondance.com |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Platt>{{cite journal |last=Platt |first=Ryan |date=Jan 2010 |title=Human Failure and Humane Exhaustion: The Passion of Alain Platel |journal=PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=90–96 |doi=10.1162/pajj.2010.32.1.90 |jstor=20627962 }}</ref> <ref name=Citron>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/alain-platel-stripping-to-the-essentials-to-express-chaos/article4190496/ |title=Alain Platel: Stripping to the essentials to express chaos |last=Citron |first=Paula |date=12 October 2010 |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=FlandersToday>{{cite web |url=http://www.flanderstoday.eu/art/face-flanders-alain-platel |title=Face of Flanders: Alain Platel |last=Hope |first=Alan |date=25 November 2014 |website=Flanders Today|access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Kear>{{cite book |last=Kear |first=Adrian |chapter=Desire among the dodgems: Alain Platel and the scene of seduction |editor1-last=Kelleher |editor1-first=Joe |editor2-last=Ridout |editor2-first=Nicholas |date=2006 |title=Contemporary Theatres in Europe: A Critical Companion |location=Abingdon |publisher=Routledge |pages=106–119 |isbn=978-0-415-32939-2}}</ref> <ref name=Artangel>{{cite web |url=https://www.artangel.org.uk/because-i-sing/alain-platel-on-making-because-i-sing/ |title=Alain Platel on making Because I Sing |last=Platel |first=Alain |date=13 February 2002 |website=Artangel |access-date= 2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=PremioEuropa>{{cite web |url=http://www.premio-europa.org/vecchio_sito/inglese/pernt.htm |title=VII PRIZE EUROPE NEW THEATRICAL REALITIES: Heiner Goebbels/Alain Platel |date=2004 |website=Premio Europa per il Teatro |access-date= 2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name="Who'sWho">{{cite book |editor-last=Meyer-Dinkgräfe |editor-first=Daniel |date=2002 |title=Who's Who in Contemporary World Theatre |location=London |publisher=Routledge |page=241 |isbn=0-203-10590-7}}</ref> <ref name=Wave>{{cite web |url=http://sarma.be/docs/1283 |title=The Flemish wave: myth and reality |last1=Gielen |first1=Pascal |last2=Laermans |first2=Rudi |date=1 January 1999 |website=SARMA |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Turner>{{cite web |url=https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/spare-change-dance-pared-back-to-basics-20110818-i4bl3 |title=Spare change – dance pared back to basics |last=Turner |first=Brook |date=18 August 2011 |website=Financial Review |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Tauberbach1>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/projects/productions/tauberbach/extra/text-hildegard-de-vuyst/ |title=On tauberbach |last=De Vuyst |first=Hildegard |date=January 2014 |website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Tauberbach2>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/projects/productions/tauberbach/info/ |title=tauberbach (project info)|website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=CoupFatal>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/projects/productions/coup-fatal/info/ |title=Coup Fatal (project info)|website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Sacre>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/projects/les-ballets-and-the-world/le-sacre-du-printemps/info/ |title=Le sacre du printemps (project info)|website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=CHOEURS>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/projects/productions/c-h-oeurs/extra/on-c-h-oeurs/ |title=On C(H)ŒURS |last=De Vuyst |first=Hildegard |date=January 2012 |website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Context>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/projects/productions/out-of-context-for-pina/info/ |title=Out of context — for Pina |last=De Vuyst |first=Hildegard |date=January 2010 |website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Gardenia>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/projects/productions/gardenia/extra/an-interview-with/ |title=An Interview with Alain Platel and Frank Van Laecke |date=May 2010 |website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Projectlist>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/archive/chronological/ |title=Project archive|website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Awardlist>{{cite web |url=https://www.lesballetscdela.be/en/les-ballets-c-de-la-b/the-company/awards/ |title=Awards|website=les ballets C de la B |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Danssolo>{{cite web |url=http://www.east-man.be/en/14/56/ |title=Project: Best Belgian Dancesolo |website=Eastman |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> }}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Platel, Alain}} Category:Contemporary dance choreographers Category:Belgian choreographers Category:Belgian theatre directors Category:1956 births Category:Living people