FRAMES by Alexander Vantournhout
DATE 12, 13, 14 August 17h00 & 19h30
PLACE tbc
WHAT Circus
FREE – reservation recommended (booking opens 1 month before the premiere)
When bodies break the frame – a dazzling encounter between contemporary circus and landscape
Sublime performers. Shifting perspectives. And a choreography that defies gravity and imagination.
Masterful circus artist Alexander Vantournhout returns to Copenhagen with a landscape performance – a dreamlike vision that twists perspective out of shape and challenges the very notion of artistic framing. Quite literally.
FRAMES is movement art at its purest and most captivating. With meticulous precision, four performers construct astonishing bodily sculptures that emerge as collective optical illusions. Seen from the front, the back or below, the images transform again and again.
Five metres above our heads, arms, legs and torsos appear against a backdrop of sky and drifting clouds – like figures from a surrealist painting by Magritte.
A monumental steel frame becomes a window onto the surrounding world. Bodies hang, climb and intertwine within its structure, forming an enigmatic landscape painting in motion.
Elsewhere, a pedestal transforms the performers into living sculptures, endlessly searching for a fragile, shared balance.
But frames are made to be broken. As the bodies move beyond the boundaries of the structure, the dimensions expand and the limitations dissolve. The picture steps out of its frame, becoming embodied poetry in the landscape – an invitation to see the world, and each other, from new perspectives.
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NB! FRAMES has been selected for the prestigious Het TheaterFestival in Belgium in 2026. It marks the seventh time one of Alexander Vantournhout’s works has been selected for the festival – an exceptional achievement.
The jury wrote: “Vantournhout constantly plays with our perception, creating wondrous tableaux of bodies and landscapes. What is particularly refined about FRAMES is the way it is so delicately attuned to its surroundings. The performance invites us to see the world in new ways – a quality possessed by only a very few works of performing arts.”
ABOUT ALEXANDER VANTOURNHOUT
Following the acclaimed presentations of SCREWS (2021) and ANECKXANDER (2016), Metropolis now welcomes Alexander Vantournhout back to Copenhagen with FRAMES, the latest addition to his growing body of site-specific work.
Belgian artist Alexander Vantournhout is one of Europe’s leading contemporary circus makers, renowned for continually pushing the boundaries of the art form. Recipient of numerous awards for his groundbreaking work, his performances are presented at major festivals and venues across Europe.
Trained as a dancer at the renowned P.A.R.T.S. school in Brussels, Vantournhout has brought new dimensions to contemporary circus through his distinctive artistic voice, extraordinary physicality, and refreshing disregard for convention.
REVIEWS
“Every now and then, a performance comes along that reaches an entirely new level and ventures into uncharted territory. FRAMES by Alexander Vantournhout / Not Standing is one of those rare works. Both its concept and its execution are masterful and utterly captivating.” – De Theaterkrant
“This is powerful, minimalist circus. Impressive in all its austerity. Yet it is an austerity that demands immense physical strength and an almost absurd precision in the coordination of every muscle and fibre of the body. The dedication with which these four acrobats have trained their bodies to achieve near-impossible positions – twisted around themselves and around one another – is extraordinary.” – KnackFocus
CREDITS
Concept og choreography: Alexander Vantournhout
Performed by: Chia-Hung Chung, Axel Guérin, Emmi Väisänen/Esse Vanderbruggen & Alexander Vantournhout/Malkom Georgoulis
Created by: Chia-Hung Chung, Axel Guérin, Emmi Väisänen & Alexander Vantournhout
Dramaturgy: Sébastien Hendrickx & Rudi Laermans
Research partners: Charlotte Cétaire, Mélusine Lavinet-Drouet, Petra Steindl & Esse Vanderbruggen
Costumes: Patty Eggerickx med assistance fra Coline Paquet, Isabelle Airaud
Prints: Daniel Henry Studio
Construction: Willy Cauwelier, Bram Dobbelaere
Tour planning: Frans Brood Productions
Company management: Esther Maas
Technical team: Bram Vandeghinste, Bert Van Dijck, Lukas Vanhoutte
Technicians on tour: Bram Vandeghinste, Bert Van Dijck, Siebe Coorevits, Lukas Vanhoutte
Production and tour management: Janne Coonen & Kiki Verschueren
Communication: Kiki Verschueren
Production: Not Standing
Co-production: Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER Ghent (BE), De Hallen van Schaarbeek (BE), Le CENTQUATRE (Paris), Le Carreau Scène nationale de Forbach et de l’Est mosellan (FR), Scène nationale Carré‑Colonnes Blanquefort (FR)
Created with support from the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, via Flanders Tax Shelter
Not Standing is supported by the Flemish Government
Alexander Vantournhout is artist-in-residence at Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER in Ghent and associated artist with le CENTQUATRE Paris. He is cultural ambassador for the city of Roeselare and is supported by the Fondation BNP Paribas for development of his projects.
Photo: Bart Grietens