Charleroi Danses (Le Centre Chorégraphique de la Communauté Française Wallonie-Bruxelles) is the choreography center of the French Community of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

History

The company originated with the Royal Ballet of Wallonia, (Ballet Royale de Wallonie), founded in 1966, which was brought under the direction of Frédéric Flamand in 1991. He renamed the company Charleroi/Danse and shifted the focus of the troupe entirely onto modern dance.

Frédéric Flamand Frédéric Flamand (born 1946 in Brussels) is a Belgian actor, director, and Choreography, choreographer. Biography Flamand founded the Plan K contemporary dance company in 1973. From 1979, it occupied a former sugar refinery in Sint-Jans-Molenb ...

directed the company between 1991 and 2004 and made the institution well known not only in Belgium but also internationally. In September 2004 he was appointed artistic director of

Ballet National de Marseille The Ballet National de Marseille is a dance company based in Marseille, France. The company combines modern dance and classical ballet. Overview The Ballet National de Marseille was founded by the dancer and choreographer Roland Petit in 1972. T ...

. After a call for candidates for his succession, the board proposed to the Minister of Culture Fadila Laanan a four-headed structure. The new coordinator of Charleroi Danses is

Vincent Thirion Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists * Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

, assisted by Michèle Anne De Mey,

Pierre Droulers Pierre Droulers (born 5 July 1951 in La Madeleine, Nord, La Madeleine, France) is a French and Belgian choreographer and dancer. He spent three years in artistic training at Maurice Béjart's Mudra School in Brussels and then studied with Jerzy G ...

and

Thierry De Mey Thierre De Mey (born 28 February 1956 in Brussels) is a musician and filmmaker from Belgium. Biography After studying film at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion, he continued to studying music composition and contemporary dance after meeting F ...

. They came into office on 1 July 2005. Charleroi Danses has premises in

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

called "The Stables" focused on contemporary art, and a branch in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Premises

In 2012 a group of brick buildings was opened as an extension to the Charleroi/Danses premises, holding dance studios and residences for artists. The elements of the new complex are connected by a large plaza that can be accessed directly from the street and that contains a public brasserie. This is part of a project that also included a passive-energy elliptical tower holding police offices. The project won the MIPIM Awards announced in Cannes in 2012 for the "Best Futura Project".

References

External links

* Official website {{Authority control Walloon culture Charleroi