Jan Fabre

With Jan Fabre art is contaminated by life and death. From order to chaos, from chance to control, this artist and dramatist has created a world that is fully his own, vibrant and centred on the body and images of the body. His obsessions and leitmotifs include bestiaries, figures and symbols. In his constant quest for intensity, he harbours the “warriors of beauty.” Who are they? The performers in his shows, and in particular the dancers for whom he choreographs solos. Preparatio Mortis is one of these.

In this piece, initially conceived for Annabelle Chambon and reprised by Lisa May, Jan Fabre, examines the realm of absolute mystery that lies on the other side of the mirror, the realm of death, the great western taboo. This gives him a radically different perspective on the world. Right from the first minutes, a deep black enshrouds the audience, preparing us for the difficult journey on which this solo will take us. Wedded to the movement and cyclical time of life, the performer’s powerful, feline dance shifts through transient states. The liturgical character of the performance contributes to this poetics of transformation. Its space is a strange tomb-cum-vivarium covered by a mountain of headily fragrant cut flowers. This is the rich setting from which the dancer moves forward. Without pathos, the flamboyantly provocative Flemish artist orchestrates a composition of bodies and textures, an egalitarian cohabitation of plants, animals and humans.