Christine De Smedt is a choreographer and dancer whose work pursues various forms of collaboration, dialogue and duration. Her research-based projects challenge result-driven modes of production. Finding forms of representation necessitates setting up a thorough study of the problem/question/material at hand. Residues from past projects emerge and leave their traces in this initial phase.
Extending her research to invited collaborators, the work takes form in collaborative complexity, conflict, and the refusal of systematicity and functionality. Numerous collaborations include pieces she co-created with a.o. Eszter Salamon and Myriam van Imschoot, pieces by a.o. Mette Ingvartsen and Xavier le Roy in which she performed as dancer, and pieces she was involved in as artistic assistant. De Smedt was a member of the collective les ballets cdelab (1991-2012) and pedagogical coordinator at PARTS (2013-2016). She remains active as a mentor, advisor and teacher in various educational contexts.
Her current project L’inconnu, a collaboration with Liza Baliasnaja and Theo Livesey, examines low-intensity violence as it permeates contemporary social life. In her career––most notably through the works 9x9 (2000-2005) and 4 choreographic portraits/Untitled 4 (2012) –– De Smedt has questioned the status and reproduction of the single author.
Function: Artistic Practice: Toolbox, Master Projects