A 24-year-old French dancer found his moment on the international stage through an unexpected partnership. His work with Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker created waves in contemporary dance circles.
Their collaboration on BREL premiered at the Festival d’Avignon in July 2025. The performance explores Jacques Brel’s musical legacy through movement. A forty-one year age gap between the performers adds dramatic tension to the choreography.
This young artist brings a fresh perspective to classic French-Belgian material. He discovered Brel’s music through digital platforms rather than childhood exposure. His interpretation feels both contemporary and deeply respectful of tradition.
The dancer’s background blends street movement with formal training at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. This unique combination creates a movement vocabulary that defies easy categorization. Critics note his ability to channel Brel’s frenetic energy while maintaining technical precision.
His stage presence captures the acceleration and intensity that defined Jacques Brel’s performances. Yet he brings his own artistic identity to each moment. The work represents an evolution from breakdancer to artist who transcends genre boundaries.
The Rise of a Modern Dance Trailblazer
His journey began not in a studio, but on the street, where he taught himself the language of breakdancing. This autodidact background gave him a unique physical intelligence. Years of street practice built a foundation of raw energy and precision.
His career took a pivotal turn with training at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. This move from street culture to formal contemporary dance was significant. He maintained the quality of his breakdancing while absorbing new methodologies.
A Background in Breakdancing and Innovation
His early way of dancing was entirely self-directed. This part of his development was crucial. It created a movement vocabulary that defies easy classification.
Critics and peers often struggle to label his style. Breakdancers see a contemporary dancer. Contemporary dancers see a breakdancer. He embraces this productive ambiguity.
Early Training at P.A.R.T.S. and Beyond
At Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s school, his approach evolved. He combined his instinctive experimentation with the school’s rigorous methodology. This fusion shaped his distinctive artistic presence.
For his first solo project, he made a surprising choice. He performed to Jacques Brel’s “La Valse à mille temps.” He deliberately avoided any breakdancing moves.
Instead, he focused on everyday gestures. He explored the song’s themes of acceleration, spinning, and frenzy. His choreography used poetic imagery over literal interpretation.
| Aspect | Pre-P.A.R.T.S. Background | Training at P.A.R.T.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Influence | Street culture, self-taught breakdancing | Institutional contemporary dance, De Keersmaeker’s philosophy |
| Movement Quality | Raw energy, instinctive precision | Refined technique, conceptual sophistication |
| Choreographic Focus | Technical virtuosity, rhythmic patterns | Everyday gestures, poetic imagery, narrative |
Solal Mariotte: Bridging Breakdancing and Contemporary Dance
The choreographic research for the performance uncovered surprising intersections between street dance and contemporary formalism. This creative process revealed how different movement languages could communicate across stylistic divides.
Innovative Choreographic Techniques and Stage Presence
His approach merged the horizontal floor work of breakdancing with the vertical concepts developed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker over decades. These intersection points created a unique movement vocabulary that critics describe as elusive virtuosity.
The dancer’s stage presence channels Jacques Brel’s legendary intensity. He captures the singer’s total commitment without resorting to imitation. This quality of energy feels both contemporary and deeply connected to tradition.
During development, he worked with two other dancers to research choreographic composition. This expanded his understanding beyond solo performance. The collaborative process deepened his artistic range.
Intersecting Generations in Dance Performance
The forty-one year age gap between the performers could have created a mentor-student dynamic. Instead, they approached the work as equal collaborators. Both maintained distinct artistic voices while building shared territory.
Their relationship emphasized personal interpretation over mimicry. They found a “personal” Brel through different life experiences and relationships to time. This generational intersection became the work’s creative engine.
The resulting choreography avoids illustrating Brel’s lyrics literally. Instead, it finds movement equivalents for the emotional qualities embedded in the music. Their partnership demonstrates how dancers separated by generations can find common ground through shared commitment to craft.
Interpreting Jacques Brel’s Legacy Through Movement
Two dancers from different eras found common ground in the complex world of Jacques Brel’s compositions. Their collaboration drew from extensive resources provided by the Fondation Jacques Brel, offering rare access to musical heritage.
Musical and Lyrical Inspirations from Jacques Brel
The duo selected 25 songs spanning Brel’s entire career. They arranged them chronologically to show his musical and mental evolution. Songs like “La Valse à mille temps” and “Bruxelles” revealed Brel’s political dimension.
Brel’s lyrics explore identity, tradition, and social justice. The choreographers engaged with this rich material while maintaining critical distance. The music itself blends bal musette with classical influences.
Cultural and Generational Dialogues in Performance
For the younger dancer, Brel was a YouTube discovery during teenage years. He appreciated songs he couldn’t personally relate to, finding them moving despite old-fashioned expressions.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker grew up with Brel’s music as part of her education. She wrote a French essay on “Le Plat Pays” as a teenager, moved by both music and lyrics.
Crafting a Personal Brel Experience on Stage
The collaboration became a triangle—Brel, De Keersmaeker, and the younger artist. Each brought distinct energy and perspective to create what they called a “personal” Brel experience.
De Keersmaeker’s prior work with Joan Baez’s music provided a template. The chronological arrangement created a dramatic line showing Brel’s evolution across his career.
Reflecting on the Transformative Performance Journey
The Carrière de Boulbon quarry provided a dramatic natural theater for BREL’s premiere at the Festival d’Avignon. Video projections transformed the stone walls with Brel’s image and associative imagery from his songs. Massive waves crashed against the textured backdrop, amplifying the singer’s powerful voice.
Critical reception revealed the work’s polarizing effect. An American reviewer found the choreography underdeveloped, describing it as moving “from song to song like a ‘best of’ playlist.” European critics praised it as an energetic ode to Brel’s stage presence and melancholy.
The outdoor space created unpredictable conditions each night. Weather and lighting changes made every show a unique experience. Mariotte’s confident performance particularly impressed audiences, embodying both frenzy and softer moments.
After Avignon, the piece toured to Amsterdam and other European venues over several years. This production marked a transition in De Keersmaeker’s artistic trajectory while establishing her partner as a major presence in contemporary dance.
