The work of Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe challenges the classical repertoire, asking dancers to become singers and singers to become dancers. Meirhaeghe calls for unashamed access to big emotions, while offering pleasure to the semi-skilled, looking for a different kind of virtuosity. In his first production as a resident Toneelhuis artist, he himself performs as a dancer. With Ode to a Love Lost he ventures into a unique dance performance; with a lost love as motor and a nostalgic desire, he moves towards a liberating future.
Ode to a Love Lost takes place deep in the crater of a heart. Its starting point is Meirhaeghe’s own personal love story. Back in 2018, he made the production The Ballet together with his then lover and muse. That mythologized relationship still inspires Meirhaeghe. Like the love stories between Diaghilev and Nijinsky, Wilde and Bosie, Warhol and Basquiat and all the passionate but unrequited loves that did not withstand the aesthetic struggle.
As a dancer on stage himself, Meirhaeghe engages in an intimate artistic dialogue with a number of young choreographers. The focus is on his own body, influenced by Western standards and ideals of beauty that can be seen in art and advertising, among other places. Driven by the lost love, a deep crater as landscape and a dual relation to the norm, Meirhaeghe literally moves toward liberation.
He is accompanied live by Berlin-based singer/songwriter Finn Ronsdorf on soul and blues piano and joined by performers Jelle Haen and Désirée Cériocien.
Concept, direction, performance: Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe
Performers: Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe, Finn Ronsdorf, Jelle Haen, Désirée Cerocién
Scenography, light: Bart Van Merode, Zaza Dupont
Research: Louise Van den Eede
Choreography coaching: Hanako Hayakawa
Vocal coaching: Wouter Deltour
Body coaching: Sten Dielen
Video: Charles Dhondt
Costume design: Oumar Dicko
Production: Toneelhuis
Diffusion: ART HAPPENS and Toneelhuis collaborate on the diffusion of Ode to a Love Lost
| Date | Performance | City Country | Organisation/Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08.03.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | The Hague (nl) | Het Nationale Theater/Koninklijke Schouwburg |
| 23.02.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Ostend (be) | CC De Grote Post |
| 15.02.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Rotterdam (nl) | Theater Rotterdam |
| 07.02.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Amsterdam (nl) | Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam |
| 06.02.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Amsterdam (nl) | Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam |
| 03.02.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Zaventem (be) | CC De Factorij |
| 29.01.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Antwerp (be) | Toneelhuis |
| 28.01.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Antwerp (be) | Toneelhuis |
| 27.01.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Antwerp (be) | Toneelhuis |
| 26.01.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Antwerp (be) | Toneelhuis |
| 25.01.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Antwerp (be) | Toneelhuis |
| 21.01.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Antwerp (be) | Toneelhuis |
| 20.01.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost | Antwerp (be) | Toneelhuis |
| 19.01.2023 | Ode to a Love Lost (premiere) | Antwerp (be) | Toneelhuis |