Alain Platel

Biography

Alain Platel, born in 1956 in Ghent (BE), is trained as a remedial educationalist and is an autodidact director. In 1984 he set up a small group with a number of friends and relatives to work collectively. “Emma” (1988) signalled his concentration on directing. He was responsible for “Bonjour Madame” (1993), “La Tristeza Complice” (1995) and “Iets op Bach” (1998), with which les ballets C de la B (as the group was now called) rocketed to the international top. In the meantime his collaboration with Arne Sierens had a similar effect on the Ghent youth theatre company Victoria, with the three plays “Moeder en Kind” (1995), “Bernadetje” (1996) and “Allemaal Indiaan” (1999). After “Allemaal Indiaan” he announced that he was stopping making productions. But shortly afterwards Gerard Mortier persuaded him to do “Wolf” (2003), based on Mozart, for the Ruhrtriennale. The choir project for the opening of the new KVS marked the start of a close collaboration with the composer Fabrizio Cassol. “vsprs” (2006) proved to be a turning point in his career. And violence, as in “Nine Finger” (2007) with Benjamin Verdonck and Fumiyo Ikeda. After the baroque “pitié!” (2008), “Out Of Context – for Pina” (January 2010) is an almost ascetic reflection of the movement repertoire of spasms and tics. This is the piece with which he last appeared at HAU Hebbel am Ufer in 2010. In collaboration with director Frank Van Laecke, he created “Gardenia” (June 2010). “C(H)ŒURS” (2012), Platel's biggest project so far, was created on demand of opera director Gerard Mortier. In the recent past, he has worked on small projects such as “Nachtschade” (for Victoria in 2006). He also almost surreptitiously entered the arena of the dance film together with the British director Sophie Fiennes (“Because I Sing” in 2001, “Ramallah!Ramallah!Ramallah!” in 2005 and “VSPRS Show and Tell” in 2007) and solo with “de balletten en ci en là” (2006). “tauberbach” was recently shown at Munich's Kammerspiele and the  Théâtre 140 in Brussels, and will travel to many other European cities following Berlin. Furthermore, this most recent work by Alain Platel has been invited to the 2014 Berlin Theatertreffen.