As Jan Fabre's muse, Lisbeth Gruwez made a name for herself in the tailor-made solo for her - and a lot of olive oil - "Quando l'Uomo Principale à una Donna" in 2004. Before that, she had already took part in the adventures of the most original Flemish contemporary scenes, alongside Wim Vandekeybus, Jan Lauwers or Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. "Birth of Prey" is the second show she creates for herself in collaboration with composer Maarten Van Cauwenberghe. On stage, the drummer and the guitarist build around her a sound wall, a cage in the center of which the body of the dancer crosses striking states of bestiality and contained violence. From the curled up position revealing only her bare back in a halo of light, to the trance standing and throat unfolded, Lisbeth Gruwez is sublime.

Source: Maison de la Danse de Lyon

Lisbeth Gruwez (1977) is a Belgian dancer and choreographer, half of Voetvolk's artistic team. She started practising classical ballet at the age of 6 and studied at the 'Stedelijk Instituut voor Ballet' (Antwerp), combining high school with a professional dance education. Once graduated, she joined P.A.R.T.S. (Brussels) to study contemporary dance.

In 1999 she started working with Jan Fabre, being part of his guerriers de la beauté. Having performed in « As long as the world needs a warrior's soul » (2000) and « Je suis sang » (2001), she rose to international fame because of « Quando » l'uomo principale è una donna (2004), the solo Jan Fabre created specifically for (and with) her, well-known for its olive oil-drenched stage.

Apart from working with Fabre, she also collaborated with Ultima Vez (« The Day of Heaven and Hell »), Jan Lauwers|Needcompany (« Images of Affection »), Grace Ellen Barkey (Few Things), Riina Saastamoinen (« Cry Me a River ») and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui ("Foi").

In 2007 she founded Voetvolk, together with Maarten Van Cauwenberghe. Their work is an ongoing conversation between corporal and auditive movement, in order to achieve a symbiosis between the aural and the visual/physical.

Apart from establishing her own choreographies with Voetvolk, Lisbeth Gruwez has danced in Arco Renz' i!2, together with Melanie Lane, and she also played the leading role in Lost Persons Area, Caroline Strubbe's first feature film.

Gruwez danced in videoclips for A Brand ("Hammerhead"), Juliette and the Licks ("Death of a Whore"), Dirk Braeckman (promoting A.F. Vandevorst's winter collection) and MUGWUMP ("At the Front").

She is also one of the "KVS faces", the open ensemble of artists and thinkers associated with the Royal Flemish Theatre of Brussels.

Right now she is touring with Voetvolk creations We're pretty fuckin' far from okay and Lisbeth Gruwez dances Bob Dylan, and with KVS creation Odysseus. She is also preparing « Thoughts for Meditation », Voetvolk's first large-scale production, to premiere in 2018, for which she will stay offstage to coordinate the bigger picture.

Source : The company Voetvolk 's website

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Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq (1952-2012) entered working life in the 70s through theatre and photography. A- fter resuming his studies (Maîtrise de Linguistique - Lyon ii, Maîtrise des sciences et Techniques de la Communication - grenoble iii), he then focused on video, first in the field of fine arts at the espace Lyonnais d'art Contemporain (ELAC) and with the group « Frigo », and then in dance.
   On creation of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon in 1980, he was asked to undertake a video documentation project that he has continued ever since. During the ‘80s, a decade marked in France by the explosion of contemporary dance and the development of video, he met numerous artists such as andy Degroat, Dominique Bagouet, Carolyn Carlson, régine Chopinot, susanne Linke, Joëlle Bouvier and regis Obadia, Michel Kelemenis. He worked in the creative field with installations and on-stage video, as well as in television with recorded shows, entertainment and documentaries.

His work with Dominique Bagouet (80-90) was a unique encounter. He documents his creativity, assisting with Le Crawl de Lucien and co-directing with his films Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux and 10 anges. in the 90s he became director of video development for the Maison de la Danse and worked, with the support of guy Darmet and his team, in the growing space of theatre video through several initiatives:
       - He founded a video library of dance films with free public access. This was a first for France. Continuing the video documentation of theatre performances, he organised their management and storage.
       - He promoted the creation of a video-bar and projection room, both dedicated to welcoming school pupils.
       - He started «présentations de saisons» in pictures.
       - He oversaw the DVD publication of Le tour du monde en 80 danses, a pocket video library produced by the Maison de la Danse for the educational sector.

       - He launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created Numeridanse.

His main documentaries are: enchaînement, Planète Bagouet, Montpellier le saut de l'ange, Carolyn Carlson, a woman of many faces, grand ecart, Mama africa, C'est pas facile, Lyon, le pas de deux d'une ville, Le Défilé, Un rêve de cirque.

He has also produced theatre films: Song, Vu d'ici (Carolyn Carlson), Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux, 10 anges, Necesito and So schnell, (Dominique Bagouet), Im bade wannen, Flut and Wandelung (Susanne Linke), Le Cabaret Latin (Karine Saporta), La danse du temps (Régine Chopinot), Nuit Blanche (Abou Lagraa), Le Témoin (Claude Brumachon), Corps est graphique (Käfig), Seule et WMD (Françoise et Dominique Dupuy), La Veillée des abysses (James Thiérrée), Agwa (Mourad Merzouki), Fuenteovejuna (Antonio Gades), Blue Lady revistied (Carolyn Carlson).

Source: Maison de la Danse de Lyon