A Love Supreme

In March 2024, the 2nd year BA Training students could choose to work on Rosas repertoire. For four weeks, twenty students worked on the material of A Love Supreme, the result of which you can see tonight.

A quartet created by Salva Sanchis and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, 

A Love Supreme is based on John Coltrane's eponymous album. This collaboration, started in 2005, comprises a meeting between two choreographers who share the same fascination for an iconic piece of music. In A Love Supreme, Coltrane and his musicians deployed a deceptively simple musical structure to allow for a complete freedom of improvisation, continuously pushing the boundaries of every musical register. This freedom sees a literal translation into dance: for this performance, the choreographers accept the challenge of blending improvisation and composition into a seamless whole. 

“For dancers, improvising should be the norm rather than the exception.”

A Love Supreme unfolds as a spirited whirlwind, where each dancer channels the essence of one of the four instruments in a composition that combines set and improvised materials in equal measure.

Akin to a musical ensemble, the dancers work together to create a shared sense of groove and excitement. This collective platform provides opportunities for individuals to step into the forefront, assuming the role of the leading instrument in a series of alternating solos.

“ Above all, the dancers  are making music together.”

✴︎ 30 min

© Tine Declerck

Credits

Original choreography: Salva Sanchis, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas | Cast #1: Ekaterina Varfolomeeva, Samuele Baschieri, Silke Hamers, Takudzwa James Felo | Transmission: Thomas Vantuycom, Cynthia Loemij | Music: A Love Supreme, John Coltrane