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

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

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 choreographer. Biography Flamand founded the Plan K contemporary dance company in 1973. From 1979, it occupied a former sugar refinery in Molenbeek. He was interested i ...

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, assisted by

Michèle Anne De Mey Michele () is an Italian male given name, akin to the English male name Michael. Michele (usually pronounced ), is also an English female given name that is derived from the French Michèle. It is a variant spelling of the more common (and iden ...

, Pierre Droulers and

Thierry De Mey Thierry De Mey (born 28 February 1956 in Brussels) is a Belgian composer, filmmaker, and choreographer. Biography De Mey is the founder of the contemporary music ensemble Maximalist!, and he has participated in other important projects such as ...

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

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

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

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

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 Culture of Wallonia Charleroi