Have you ever noticed the beauty of a cumulonimbus cloud about to burst into tears? Can you recall the smell of post-rain humus ? When was the last time you caressed a tree, even a dead one ?

In a dystopian far-future, meet Trebor (a tree in a pot) and Robert (an acrodancer). Intertwined, leaning on one another, these two entities exist in sync, supporting each other throughout the half-hour acrobatic dialogue that is La Vieille Souche. Minimalistic, absurd, optimistic, auditory and highly physical, the piece places Robert and Trebor on an equal footing. Following the connecting embrace between the two characters, the audience will go through the collective experience of planting Trebor at or around the performance site.

La Vieille Souche is an ode dedicated to life, in all its absurdity, and to the walnut tree at the edge of the garden of my childhood home; a tree who carried my first “cabanes”, the early sorrows of my heart, and who still wears – proudly – the scars of the swing’s ropes.

Partners : Circ’UIT (BE), Mira miro (Gent, BE), Circuswerkplaats Dommelhof (Neerpelt, BE), UP – Circus & Performing Arts (Brussels, BE), Tent (Amsterdam, NL), deRUIMTE (Leuven, BE), Les Payenkes Utopistes (CH), Panama pictures (’s Hertogenbosch, NL), Etincelles de Culture (Valais, CH), Cirklabo (Leuven, BE).

Collaborators :
Oak tree : Trebor Quercus Robur
Dramaturgical advice : Franka Tremblay
Choreographic advice : Piet Van Dycke
External eyes : Adele Didelez, Saphia Loizeau, Samantha Cunningham, Myriam Jarmarche
Prototypes ceramics advice : Frédéric Barman
Musical advice : Pierrick Bacher
Scenographic advice : Sammy van Den Heuvel
Scenography building : Martin Baarda and Luc Cauwenberghs
Light design : Bart Verzellenberg
Costume advice : Menno Boerdam
Photos : William Blenkin