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Grace Ellen Barkey ( Surabaya, 1958) is a choreographer, dancer and actress who is part of Needcompany (Brussels).[1] Theater maker / visual artist Jan Lauwers is her life partner, actress Romy Louise Lauwers and curator and writer Victor Lauwers are her children.[2][3]

Training

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Grace Ellen Barkey studied dance expression and modern dance at the Theaterschool in Amsterdam. After her education she worked as an actress and dancer.[4]

Collaboration with Jan Lauwers and Needcompany

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She choreographed several productions before she founded in 1986 the Brussels based performing arts collective Needcompany together with theater maker / visual artist Jan Lauwers.[5] She became the collective's permanent choreographer. She not only created the choreography for various Needcompany productions but also performed in a number of them, and in other productions.

Own artistic work

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Since 1992 she also creates her own productions, which are situated at the interface between theater, dance, performance and visual arts. With these productions she has steadily and successfully built an international career. The productions of Grace Ellen Barkey are often surreal and permeated with absurd humor, because they deal with the great failure, the tragedy of a clown, or the helpless barbarity of sexuality.[6] Music often occupies a central dramaturgical position, e.g. music by John Cage for One (1992), Sonic Youth for Chunking (2005), Thomas Adès for The Porcelain Project (2007),[7] The Residents for MUSH-ROOM (2013) and Gustav Mahler for FOREVER (2016). She says about her work: "For me, it's primarily about images. I start from the material and the stage setting. Music is important, but my texts are not very narrative. They have more the abstraction of poetry."[8] There is seldom a linear development in the productions of Grace Ellen Barkey. According to the Belgian critic Ive Stevenheydens "she creates rather performance-oriented dance performances in which personal memories, daily events and extraordinary experiences are merged into a dream world." Grace Ellen Barkey adds: "I try to create a new world in which I am very motivated by personal fantasies, the absurd and the grotesque. My performances want to move away from reality. The content is found between the lines, context arises from associations. There is therefore a logic in my performances, though it is rather poetic in nature."[9]

Her first own productions

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Her first pieces, One (1992), Don Quijote (1993) and Tres (1995) were co-produced by Theater am Turm (Frankfurt).[5] One dealt in large part with Flaubert's travels to the Orient to escape his melancholy or to forget his love for Louise Colet.[10] The production had an associative structure, and consisted of a combination of text fragments from Flaubert and Ivan Goncharov, songs, choreographies and small sketches. According to the Belgian publicist Pieter T'Jonck "Barkey evoked a mood rather than offering a penetrating analysis of the melancholy".[5] Don Quijote was inspired by the novel El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes and Le Mythe de Sisyphe by Albert Camus. Barkey dressed the story up with songs and dances, but what stuck in the memory were mainly the few extremely moving images of the helpless main actor Mil Seghers.[11] Tres was inspired by the writings of Jean Genet.The production consisted orginally of spoken texts and characters from Genet, but a conflict with the copyright association that represents Genet's publisher Gallimard made the use of these texts impossible at the last moment.This forced Grace Ellen Barkey to find last minute other texts, and to re-edit the production. According to Pieter T'Jonck this probably had a negative impact on the cohesion of Tres; the production suffered from vague sketchiness.[12][13] Shortly afterwards Stories (Histoires/Verhalen) (1996) followed. Like in the previous three productions, texts from world literature, this time from the novel Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy, form the basic pattern of Stories. Grace Ellen Barkey associates on the text material through improvisation with a group of actors / dancers. Other texts, but also the music and the decor form a closely knit theatrical fabric, that is difficult to interpret unequivocally.[14]

Away from literary texts as basic material

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Also her following production RoodRedRouge (1998) was inspired by literary texts, this time texts by Jeroen Brouwers and Paul Auster. But with this production Grace Ellen Barkey's work starts to take a different direction. RoodRedRouge (1998) does no longer refer to an author or work, but is derived more from her youth and stories her father told her. The production follows two different tracks: on one hand her personal experiences and memories from her country of birth, Indonesia, and on the other hand a lonely man without memories.[15] With the productions RoodRedRouge (1998) and Few Things (2000), the work of Grace Ellen Barkey became increasingly international. Few Things received much acclaim, not only in Belgium but also internationally. In between Rood Red Rouge (1998) and Few Things (2000) she also worked on De wonderbaarlijke mandarijn (1999), but with that production she clashed again with the copyright legislation. It was based on the one act pantomime ballet with the same name that was composed by Béla Bartók. After a try-out in New York Bartók's heir demanded a high penalty payment for every new performance of the production. Barkey adjusted the performance drastically, but found the result artistically unsatisfactory.[16] Few Things (2000) is a reworked version of De wonderbaarlijke mandarijn (1999); instead of using Bartók's composition the music in the production varies from György Ligeti, Sonic Youth, Karlheinz Stockhausen to Tricky. The Belgian dance critic and dramatic advisor Jeroen Peeters wrote about the production: "The cross-linking of looking, greed and power forms a red thread in 'Few things', a lot of mime and movement material is conceived from there. Where words fall short, Barkey puts in a lot of dance to give the drama some tension, say to keep the desire alive."[17][18] According to Pieter T'Jonck the result is lively theater that does not betray Bartók's theme of death and desire.[19]

Finding her won voice

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With (AND) (2002) Grace Ellen Barkey found her own voice[5] and transcended all boundaries of theater, dance and music.[20] Like Few Things (2000) (AND) is again an adaption of an opera piece, this time of Puccinis Turandot. In order to avoid copyright problems, Grace Ellen Barkey kept this time far from the original work. From Puccinis Turandot there only remain a few sound patches and the story grid. In Few Things (2000) (AND) Grace Ellen Barkey departed from works by Bartok and Puccini to arrive, according to Pieter T'Jonck at "chaotic, almost grotty-like dance spectacles with a large dose of punk energy. Barkey shrugged the raw emotion hidden behind the polished surface of these familiar stories. With often staggering direct images as a result."[21] Dutch Critic Elke Van Campenhout described (AND) as "a sparkling rock fairy tale, an inventive dance performance, a chunk of pure concert theater."[22] Based on the performance that followed, Chunking (2005), Grace Ellen Barkey was nominated for the Flanders Culture Prizes of the Flemish Community. Like her previous production, Chunking also excels in unsettling images. But unlike Few Things and (AND) Chunking is not inspired by opera, but by Quatuor à cordes # 3 by Giacinto Scelsi and Kill your idols by Sonic Youth.[23] For The Porcelain Project (2007) she created, together with visual artist and costume designer Lot Lemm, an installation that consists of hundreds of porcelain objects and integrated it in her choreography. The Dutch critic Sander Hiskemuller described the production as a work "that balances on the edge of visual art, performance and dance".[24] In 2010, This is a little too small (for a bear) followed. One of the red threads in that surrealistic and absurd production, in which the puppets from Chungking return, is Frank Zappa's motto "To me, absurdity is the only reality".[25]


and in 2013, both MUSH-ROOM, for which the American iconic avant-garde art collective The Residents wrote the music, and Raar? Maar Waar! (Weird? But Where!), a dance performance for children. A few years later she made the dance performance FOREVER (2016), based on an interpretation of Gustav Mahler's Der Abschied (from Das Lied von der Erde).

Acclaim

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The Belgian publicist Pieter T'Jonck wrote about Grace Ellen Barkey: "What distinguishes her from other theater makers, also from [Jan] Lauwers (despite many stylistic similarities and the same cast of actors) is a special tone. Without falling into irony or cheap ridiculation, Barkey always shows a refreshing lack of respect, a peculiar mixture of seriousness and frivolity, also and especially when she talks about the most melancholic topics."[26]

The performances of Grace Ellen Barkey toured in Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Spain, South Korea, Sweden and Switzerland.[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]

Grace Ellen Barkeys was nominated for the Flemish Culture Award for Performing Arts 2005.[41][42]

Lemm&Barkey

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In 2004, Grace Ellen Barkey and visual artist and costume designer Lot Lemm started on the basis of their close artistic collaboration Lemm&Barkey: they design costumes (e.g., for De kamer van Isabella (Jan Lauwers/Needcompany, 2004), conceive the concept, image and decor for Barkey's performances and create museum installations.[43]

Productions

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Own werk:[44]

Co-creations:[95]

  • The Porcelain Project Installation (Lemm&Barkey / Needcompany, 2006)
  • The Porcelain Object (Lemm&Barkey / Needcompany, 2008)
  • 18 videos (Lemm&Barkey / Needcompany, 2012)
  • FOREVER (Lemm&Barkey / Needcompany, 2016)[96][97][98][99][100][101]
  • The Time Between Two Mistakes (Jan Lauwers, Grace Ellen Barkey en Maarten Seghers / Needcompany, 2017)

Other work:[102]

  • Need to Know (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 1987): performer
  • ça va (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 1989): performer
  • Julius Caesar (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 1990): choreografie, performer
  • Invictos (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 1991): performer
  • Antonius und Kleopatra (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 1992): choreographer, performer
  • Orfeo (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 1993): choreographer
  • The Snakesong Trilogy - Snakesong / Le Voyeur (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 1994): performer
  • Caligula (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 1997): performer
  • Needcompany's King Lear (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2000): performer
  • Images of Affection (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2002): performer
  • Goldfish Game (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2002): performer
  • No Comment (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2003): performer
  • The Lobster Shop (Jan Lauwers/Needcompany, 2006): performer
  • The House of Our Fathers (München) (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2007): performer
  • Het Hertenhuis (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2008): performer
  • Sad Face | Happy Face, Een Trilogie (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2008): performer
  • The House of Our Fathers (Mannheim) (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2011): performer
  • The House of Our Fathers (Leuven) (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2011): performer
  • De kunst der vermakelijkheid - internationale versie (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2011): performer
  • De kunst der vermakelijkheid - German version (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2011): performer
  • Marktplaats 76 (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2012): performer
  • 25 Moves (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2012): performer
  • The House of Our Fathers (Herrenhausen) (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2013): performer
  • All Tomorrow's Parties (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2014): performer
  • De blinde dichter (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2015): performer
  • The House of Our Fathers (Shanghai) (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2016): performer
  • Oorlog en terpentijn (Jan Lauwers / Needcompany, 2017): performer

References

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  1. ^ Biography Grace Ellen Barkey, on the website of Berliner Festspiele
  2. ^ Griet Plets, Wij maken alles licht, in: De Standaard, 21/10/2017, p. 30
  3. ^ Kristof Dalle, Vroeger was arrogantie geil, vandaag is arrogantie gewoon arrogant, in: Knack, 29/11/2017, p. 94
  4. ^ Biography Grace Ellen Barkey, on the website of Berliner Festspiele
  5. ^ a b c d Pieter T'Jonck, Jan Lauwers en Grace Ellen Barkey / Needcompany, in: Contemporary Dance From Flanders - An Online Special By Flanders Arts Institute
  6. ^ Page about This door is too small (for a bear) (Grace Ellen Barkey / Needcompany, 2010) on the website of ImPulsTanz - Vienna International Dance Festival
  7. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Te gek!: Een verbluffend schouwspel van ontregelde gevoelens, in: De Morgen, 17/10/2007
  8. ^ Michaël Bellon, Needcompany: 'Het is onze job om aan alles te twijfelen', in: Brussel deze Week, 08/09/2011
  9. ^ Ive Stevenheydens, De realiteit van het absurde bij Grace Ellen Barkey, in: Brussel deze Week, 19/02/2010
  10. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Dromen uit de oriënt, in: De Standaard, 28/05/1994
  11. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Barkey belicht troebele zones van het verlangen, in: De Standaard, 03/03/1995
  12. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, "Tres" van Barkey blijft te schetsmatig, in: De Standaard, 28/12/1995
  13. ^ Geert Sels, Kreunen onder auteursrechten, in: De Standaard, 13/01/2000, p. 9
  14. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Vlinderen tussen geluk en ongeluk: Grace Ellen Barkey speelt actieve rol in haar "Stories", in: De Standaard, 25/03/1997
  15. ^ Jef Aerts, Tussen ons gezegd en gezwegen, in: De Tijd, 29/12/1998
  16. ^ Geert Sels, Kreunen onder auteursrechten, in: De Standaard, 13/01/2000, p. 9
  17. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Barkey verbindt hoogste aspiraties met laagste lusten, in: De Standaard, 17/11/2000
  18. ^ Jeroen Peeters, Macht en wellust in een kijkkast, in: Financieel-Economische Tijd, 18/11/2000
  19. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Bartok als 'Funky Chinese Opera', in: De Tijd, 05/12/2001
  20. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Van alles en nog wat, in: De Tijd, 22/01/2003
  21. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Vele gezichten van dans: ANALYSE | Kaaitheater brengt hele maand dans en performance, in: De Tijd, 21/10/2005
  22. ^ Elke Van Campenhout, Van prinsen en vissen, in: De Standaard, 23/01/2003, p. 11
  23. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Vele gezichten van dans: ANALYSE | Kaaitheater brengt hele maand dans en performance, in: De Tijd, 21/10/2005
  24. ^ Sander Hiskemuller, Vlees en porselein als wellustig amalgaam, in: Trouw, 22/10/2007
  25. ^ Ive Stevenheydens, De realiteit van het absurde bij Grace Ellen Barkey, in: Brussel deze Week, 19/02/2010
  26. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Een grap om bij te huilen, in: De Tijd, 12/12/2001
  27. ^ Tour dates 2005, on the website of Needcompany
  28. ^ Tour dates 2006, on the website of Needcompany
  29. ^ Tour dates 2007, on the website of Needcompany
  30. ^ Tour dates 2008, on the website of Needcompany
  31. ^ Tour dates 2009 , on the website of Needcompany
  32. ^ Tour dates 2010, on the website of Needcompany
  33. ^ Tour dates 2011, on the website of Needcompany
  34. ^ Tour dates 2012, on the website of Needcompany
  35. ^ Tour dates 2013, on the website of Needcompany
  36. ^ Tour dates 2014, on the website of Needcompany
  37. ^ Tour dates 2015, on the website of Needcompany
  38. ^ Tour dates 2016,on the website of Needcompany
  39. ^ Tour dates 2017,on the website of Needcompany
  40. ^ Tour dates 2018, on the website of Needcompany
  41. ^ Persbericht genomineerden Cultuurprijzen Vlaanderen 2005, 11/01/2006
  42. ^ Cultuurprijzen Vlaanderen 2005, in: website Cultuur van de Vlaamse overheid
  43. ^ Page about Lemm&Barkey, on the website of Needcompany
  44. ^ Overview of the productions of Grace Ellen Barkey on the website of Needcompany
  45. ^ Caroline Willems, 'Misschien is mijn hart wel impotent', in: NRC, 21/05/1994
  46. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Dromen uit de oriënt, in: De Standaard, 28/05/1994
  47. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Barkey belicht troebele zones van het verlangen, in: De Standaard, 03/03/1995
  48. ^ Marian Buijs, Gloedvol gevecht tegen de altijd weer onmogelijke liefde, in: de Volkskrant, 25/02/1995
  49. ^ Margriet Oostveen, Een dolende ridder in een kast, in: NRC, 24 /02/1995
  50. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, "Tres" van Barkey blijft te schetsmatig, in: De Standaard, 28/12/1995
  51. ^ Kester Freriks, Scherven tussen het pluche en de schmink, in: NRC, 20/10/1995
  52. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Vlinderen tussen geluk en ongeluk: Grace Ellen Barkey speelt actieve rol in haar "Stories", in: De Standaard, 25/03/1997
  53. ^ Jef Aerts, Tussen ons gezegd en gezwegen, in: De Tijd, 29/12/1998
  54. ^ Geert Sels, Kreunen onder auteursrechten, in: De Standaard, 13/01/2000, p. 9
  55. ^ Paul Ben-Itzak, DI, Pre-history: A course in miracles — The Miraculous Mandarin, RIP, in: The Dance Insider
  56. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Barkey verbindt hoogste aspiraties met laagste lusten, in: De Standaard, 17/11/2000
  57. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Bartok als 'Funky Chinese Opera', in: De Tijd, 05/12/2001
  58. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Een grap om bij te huilen, in: De Tijd, 12/12/2001
  59. ^ Jeroen Peeters, Macht en wellust in een kijkkast, in: Financieel-Economische Tijd, 18/11/2000
  60. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Van alles en nog wat, in: De Tijd, 22/01/2003
  61. ^ Elke Van Campenhout, Van prinsen en vissen, in: De Standaard, 23/01/2003, p. 11
  62. ^ Ingrid van Frankenhuyzen, Ballet over naar lucht happende vis, in: NRC, 24/10/2002
  63. ^ Anna Kisselgoff, Revisiting an Ice Queen, Making Sure She Melts, in: The New York Times, 23/11/2002
  64. ^ Rosita Boisseau, Grace Ellen Barkey, danse hybride et conte chinois, in: Le Monde, 31/03/2004
  65. ^ Mia Vaerman, Het onbewuste is opgebouwd uit beelden, in: Etcetera, 2007-06, jaargang 25, nummer 107, p. 70-71
  66. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Vele gezichten van dans: ANALYSE - Kaaitheater brengt hele maand dans en performance, in: De Tijd, 21/10/2005
  67. ^ Geert Sels, Grace Ellen Barkey knipoogt naar pornografie in Chunking, in: De Standaard, 17/10/2005, p. 35
  68. ^ Sander Hiskemuller, Aanstekelijk copulerende mensenkluwen als dressuur, in: Trouw, 23/05/2005
  69. ^ Isabella Lanz, Een mimische copulatie-act, in: NRC, 21/05/2005
  70. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Te gek!: Een verbluffend schouwspel van ontregelde gevoelens, in: De Morgen, 17/10/2007
  71. ^ Michaël Bellon, Thé dansant in een porseleinwinkel, in: De Standaard, 10/10/2007, Pagina 67
  72. ^ Danielle de Regt, Needcompany met 'The porcelain project': nonsens in het kwadraat, in: De Standaard, 12/10/2007, p. 75
  73. ^ Danielle De Regt, Kitsch als schone schijn, in: Cobra.be, 25/06/2010
  74. ^ Sander Hiskemuller, Vlees en porselein als wellustig amalgaam, in: Trouw, 22/10/2007
  75. ^ Howard Loxton, The Porcelain Project, in: British Theatre Guide, 14 /04/2009
  76. ^ Eva-Maria Magel, Nicht den Elefanten vergessen, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine, 16/11/2008
  77. ^ Ive Stevenheydens, De realiteit van het absurde bij Grace Ellen Barkey, in: Brussel deze Week, 19/02/2010
  78. ^ Pieter T'jonck, Chinese opera bezweert chaos in wasserette, in: De Morgen, 27/02/2010, p. 44
  79. ^ Sarah Vankersschaever, Uitkijken naar een zotte doos, in: De Standaard/Vlaams-Brabant/Brussel, 02/O1/2010, p. 37
  80. ^ Sarah Vankersschaever, 'Mensen zonder fantasie zijn dood', in: De Standaard/Vlaams-Brabant/Brussel, 20/02/2010, p. 3
  81. ^ Guy Duplat, Le monde foufoufou de Grace Ellen, in: La Libre Belgique, 27/02/2010, p. 33
  82. ^ Esther Boldt, Die Waschmaschine mags auch mal dreckig, in: nachtkritik.de
  83. ^ Ruth Joos, Interview met Grace Ellen Barkey, in Cobra.be, 25/02/2010
  84. ^ Tuur Devens, Ode aan spelplezier, nu voor peuters en kleuters, in: Theaterkrant, 09/11/2013
  85. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Raar? Maar Waar!, in: Etcetera, nr. 135, jaargang 31, december 2013, p. 63-64
  86. ^ Sarah Vankersschaever, Party, in: De Standaard, 22/04/2013, p. 7
  87. ^ Els Van Steenberghe, Scène à faire, in: Focus Knack, 10/04/2013, p. 4
  88. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Gekke paddenstoelen, in: De Morgen, 28/03/2013, p. 33
  89. ^ Michaël Bellon, Grace Ellen Barkey & the magic mushroom party, in: Agenda Brussel deze Week, 16/04/2013, p. 8-9
  90. ^ Tuur Devens, De revolutie van de paddenstoel, in: Theaterkrant, 21/04/2013
  91. ^ Hans-Maarten Post, The fungi are taking over the asylum: ‘MUSH-ROOM’ (Grace Ellen Barkey & Needcompany), in: Utopia Parkway, 28/04/2013
  92. ^ Sarah Heppekausen, Tanzende Pilze mit Rausch-Potenzial, in: DerWesten, 24/03/2013
  93. ^ Eline Van de Voorde, MUSH-ROOM – Grace Ellen Barkey & Needcompany, in: Cobra.be, 21/04/2013
  94. ^ Nicole Strecker, Exzentrische Performance einer Pilz-Invasion, in: Deutschlandfunk, 24/03/2013
  95. ^ Overview of the productions of Lemm&Barkey on the website of Needcompany
  96. ^ Els Van Steenberghe, ‘Wie zijn einde nadert, is weer verwonderd’, in: Knack, 19/10/2016, p. 122
  97. ^ Els Van Steenberghe, Needcompany zegt het onzegbare in 'Forever', in: Knack Focus, 28/10/2016
  98. ^ Guy Duplat, Un Adieu de Mahler à la douce folie, in: La Libre Belgique, 22/10/2016
  99. ^ Pieter T'Jonck, Tegendraadse ode aan het breekbare leven, in: De Morgen, 10/10/2016, p. 22
  100. ^ Stefan Hertmans, De bezwering van een afscheid, in: programmaboekje FOREVER van Kaaitheater, 2016
  101. ^ Reinhard Kriechbaum, Tanz ins ungewisse Porzellanland, in: Wiener Zeitung, 26/09/2016
  102. ^ Overview of the productions of Jan Lauwers on the website of Needcompany

Further reading

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Category:Japanese choreographers Category:Japanese female dancers Category:Living people Category:1962 births

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