Woman and flesh, beauty and impermanence, raw and tender. An uncontrollable desire overwhelms the dancers. A desire for fulfilment, both physical and mental. They are torn between attractiveness, sensuality, lust, carnality, fame, success, reflection, control and stillness. Act on the urges or control them. Bodies in ecstasy.

In Co(te)lette Ann Van den Broek shows three female dancers is an intimate setting, caught in a vicious circle between desire and fulfilment. There is no confrontation, there is no rivalry, there is no narrative – no solution, no end. Co(te)lette is a restless and ultimately… empty portrait.

Co(te)lette is a performance from 2007. This reprise almost twenty years later is of particular importance in the current neo-conservative era. It confronts us with the stagnating emancipation of women and the erosion of the right to one’s own interpretation of sexuality and physicality. At the same time, in the personal domain of Ann Van den Broek, it is also a confrontation with the passing of time.

The original performance of Co(te)lette was awarded the Swan for the most impressive dance production of the 2007-2008 season. The performance was previously seen at Lowlands and toured internationally with performances in London, Montreal, Beijing, Lublin, Munich and Helsinki.

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EXTRA mini documentary

This documentary takes you behind the scenes of Co(te)lette and Ann Van den Broek’s creative process. It offers an insight into how the work is constructed, what is happening beneath the surface, and how the performers experienced it then and today.

Twenty years after its creation, Co(te)lette returns to the stage with a new cast and a fresh layer of meaning. The documentary makes clear how the work continues to shift in time and context, and why it still resonates so directly and physically.

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concept and choreography Ann Van den Broek
assistent/rehearsel director Frauke Mariën, Cecilia Moisio
dancers (rotating cast) Isaiah Selleslaghs, Celine Werkhoven, Matthea Lara Pedersen, Sixtine Biron
interns Mira Sopart, Ana Paula Lemus Payiatsou, Kato Rombaut
music Arne Van Dongen
muziek editing and mix Arne Van Dongen, Yves De Mey
llight design Bernie van Velzen
styling cosumes Ann Van den Broek
videography Thorsten Alofs
photography Rio Staelens
premiere May 6 2026, De Nieuwe Vorst, Tilburg (NL)

WArd/waRD is supported, by the Fonds Podiumkunsten (NL), City of Tilburg (NL), Province of North-Brabant (NL) and by the Belgian Taxshelter (BE).

“Choreographer Ann Van den Broek created, with three dancers, an obsessive ode to physical desire from a female perspective.”

– deVolkskrant (NL)

“Ann Van den Broek’s masterful choreography moves between two extremes: hyper-awareness and rigidity in the eyes of the observer, and joyful surrender to the body’s desires.”

– De Groene Amsterdammer (NL)