The Choreopolitics of Alain Platel’s Les Ballets C de la B: Emotions, Gestures, Politics

Les Ballets C de la B was founded by Alain Platel in 1984. Since then it has become a company that enjoys great success at home and abroad. Over the years, Platel has developed a unique choreographic oeuvre. His motto, ’This dance is for the world and the world is for everyone’, reveals a deep social and political commitment.

Through the three topics of emotions, gestures and politics, this book unravels the choreopolitics of Platel’s Les Ballets C de la B. His choreopolitics go beyond conveying a (political) message because rather than defending one opinion, Platel is more concerned about the exposure of the complexity within the debate itself.

Highly respected scholars from different fields contribute to this book to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the intense emotions, the damaged narratives, and the precarious bodies in Platel’s choreographic oeuvre.

Christel Stalpaert is Full Professor Theatre, Performance and Media Studies at Ghent University, Belgium where she is Director of the research centres S: PAM (Studies in Performing Arts and Media) and PEPPER (Philosophy, Ethology, Politics and Performance).

Guy Cools is a dance dramaturg at Ghent University, Belgium. His focus is production dramaturgy, contributing to work by choreographers all over Europe and Canada.

Hildegard De Vuyst is Dramaturg of Les Ballets C de la B, Belgium, where she has worked since 1994.