Through the Grapevine Live

Revisited with live music by Andrea Belfi 

After its premiere in 2020, Through the Grapevine is back in a new staging. Alexander Vantournhout and Axel Guérin challenge each other again in a quirky pas-de-deux, this time accompanied by a reworked soundtrack that will be performed live by composer and musician Andrea Belfi. 

Starting from a poetic contemplation of the two performers' different proportions, an intense interplay gradually unfolds. Their athletic bodies push against physical limits, and through movement they each discover their own inherent strengths and vulnerabilities.

With great effort and concentration, the performers jointly search for balance, equilibrium and harmony without shying away from humour. They challenge and support each other and take turns leading the dance. Through uninterrupted mutual contact, the interweaving of touching and being touched develops as the underlying melody of the performance, one that is attuned to the live accompaniment of Andrea Belfi, the Italian experimental percussionist. 

Through the Grapevine Live marks the first time Not Standing reworks an existing performance, re-imagining it for two bodies that have aged and move differently with the passing of time. With this performance, Alexander Vantournhout embarks on a new path: live music on stage, adding extra depth and intensity to his ingenious choreography.

Andrea Belfi is an Italian composer, drummer, and electronic musician in minimal, post-classical, new, and experimental music, as well as improvisation, theater, and performance. 

His distinctive sound emerges from the dynamic relationship between his fluid drumming and complex electronic soundscapes, where the manipulation of time induces a sense of stillness within progression, thus rendering it ritualistic. The foundation of his music is built on perpetually shifting rhythmic and melodic arrangements that expand into spatialized orchestral sound scenarios.

In Through the Grapevine Live (2026), Andrea Belfi not only provides sounds through the speakers, but is also on stage with them, increasing the intensity of this interplay and allowing them to interact live. The original soundtrack is also expanded and reworked. The addition of live music takes Alexander Vantournhout down a new path, adding extra layers and intensity to the choreography.

“As always, Vantournhout's work is so ingenious that it is impossible to describe. You can only look with admiration and concentration at the phenomenal physical intelligence exhibited here.” — ★★★★ De Standaard (Through the Grapevine 2020)

“The strength and agility of Vantournhout and Guérin is incredible!” — ★★★★ The Reviews Hub (Through the Grapevine 2020)

Concept & choreography Alexander Vantournhout
Music - composition and performance Andrea Belfi 
Created in collaboration with Emmi Väisänen & Axel Guérin 
Performers Axel Guérin & Alexander Vantournhout 

Dramaturgy Rudi Laermans
Technical director (2026) Bram Vandeghinste
Revision of lighting design (2026) Bert Van Dijck
Sound technician (2026) Jille Waegebaert 
Technicians on tour (2026) Bram Vandeghinste, Bert Van Dijck & Jille Waegebaert

Technical director (2020) Rinus Samyn
Light design (2020) Caroline Mathieu
Light design advice (2020) Harry Cole

Costumes Anne-Catherine Kunz
Concept scenography Bjorn Verlinde
Outside eye Maria Ferreira Silva & Anneleen Keppens
Thanks to Sébastien Hendrickx, Vera Tussing & Esse Vanderbruggen

Distribution Frans Brood Productions
Company manager Esther Maas
Production and tourmanagement Janne Coonen & Kiki Verschueren
Communication Kiki Verschueren

Coproduction (2026) Archaos, Pôle National du Cirque (Marseille, FR) 
Residencies (2026) Wood Cube (Roeselare, BE), PERPLX/Budascoop (Kortrijk, BE)

Not Standing/Alexander Vantournhout is artist in residence of Arts Centre VIERNULVIER (Ghent, BE), Maison des Arts de Créteil (Créteil, FR) and CENTQUATRE (Paris, FR). He is cultural ambassador of the city of Roeselare and supported by Fondation BNP Paribas for the development of his projects.

Coproduction (2020) Arts Centre VIERNULVIER (Ghent, BE), PERPLX (Marke, BE), CENTQUATRE (Paris, FR),  Plateforme 2 Pôles Cirque en Normandie / La Brèche à Cherbourg & le Cirque-Théâtre d’Elbeuf (FR), Les Subsistances (Lyon, FR), Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg, LU), MA scène nationale – Pays de Montbéliard (FR), Les Hivernales CDCN (Avignon, FR), Malpertuis (Tielt, BE), Theater Freiburg (DE), Théâtre des Quatre Saisons (Gradignan, FR), Théâtre de l’Arsenal (Val-de-Reuil, FR)

Residencies (2020) les ballets C de la B (Ghent, BE), Arts Centre VIERNULVIER (Ghent, BE), STUK (Leuven, BE), Les Subsistances (Lyon, FR), Wood Cube (Roeselare, BE), Workspacebrussels (Brussels, BE)

Production Not Standing vzw 
With the support of the Flemish authorities and Fondation BNP Paribas.

Through the Grapevine (2020) 🏆 Het TheaterFestival Belgium 2021

Through the Grapevine (2020) 🏆 Het TheaterFestival Nederland 2021

Through the Grapevine (2020) 🏆 Best International Dance - Premis de la Crítica Catalunya