FEST

6+

Zonzo Compagnie, Junior Akwety, Jochem Baelus & Lotte Vanhamel

Brace yourself, straighten your head, clear your throat. Because it’s time. Time for a festive revolution, time for FEST!

Almost a hundred years ago, Spanish teacher José Antonio Emmanuel published the manifesto 'Anarchy Explained to Children'. He wrote: “Life must be what it should be: a free expression of abilities, spontaneity of actions, an ultimate freedom that breaks down the causes hindering this society, based on the greatest freedom and the most absolute independence.” And that’s exactly what singer Junior Akwety, sound artist Jochem Baelus, and clarinetist Lotte Vanhamel do: they place their fate in the hands of the young audience and call for a revolution.

FEST is a bomb full of musical anarchy. The musicians transform from ritual percussion to enchanting voices and vice versa. They draw inspiration from songs from Junior’s homeland, Congo, and introduce touches of rumba, banto electronics, deep house, hip-hop, and rap. Together with the audience, they create a new world: uninhibited, free, and spontaneous.

Prepare for a musical celebration and a revolution for children—a revolution that radiates positive energy. FEST appeals to modern dance culture: a gathering that perhaps hints at something illegal, but most of all leaves a lasting impression on everyone present. Even on you. Get ready for this ode to experimentation, this courageous fist against the current.

credits

performance Junior Akwety, Jochem Baelus & Lotte Vanhamel
direction & choreography Charlotte Goesaert
light design Geert Custers
technics Gijsbrecht Moeyersons
costume design Wim Muyllaert
final direction Wouter Van Looy
coproduction C-TAKT, HA Concerts, KinderKinder (DE), Maisha vzw, Musica Impulscentrum, Perpodium, Rataplan & Zonzo Compagnie
with the support from the Flemish government & the tax shelter of the Belgian federal government via uFund