Ann Van den Broek
In the year 2000, after an active and successful career as a dancer, Ann Van den Broek decided to dedicate herself entirely to growing and developing as a choreographer. She founded the dance company WArd/waRD and has been working on her uniquely characteristic body of work ever since. Over the past years she has left her mark on the dance scene in Belgium and the Netherlands, and she has also built a solid reputation in the international dance world. Early on in her career as a choreographer she developed her own movement language: emotional minimalism. Her work is often described as raw, dynamic, radical, uncompromising and brutally honest. It is based on fundamental, yet simple human needs, such as making contact with others, satisfying needs and survival. Her work is known to be very detailed and multi-layered.
At the beginning of her career she focused primarily on the body in movement.
Her work has been nominated several times for the Zwaan (Swan), the most prestigious dance prize in the Netherlands presented by The VSCD (Dutch Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors), and again in 2017 for her latest work: “Accusations. The Black Piace (2015)” and “Co(te)lette (in 2008)” both won the ‘Zwaan’ (Swan Award – NL) for Most Impressive Dance Production.
Ann Van den Broek has also received the Diiorapthe Dance Award fot The Black Piece and the Mouson Award (2009/2010). The Mouson Award is an initiative of the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt (Germany). The Lady in Black, a documentary about Ann Van den Broek made by director Lisa Boerstra, was in March 2015 first screened in Cinedans Festival – Dance on Screen in EYE Amsterdam and subsequently broadcast on Dutch national television. The festivities of WArd/waRD’s 15th anniversary program in 2015 included the presentation of the book, protect/perform. Protect/perform looks over a period of fifteen years in the development of Ann Van den Broek’s artistic career. Based on conversations with author Marcelle Schots, reflections and many never-before-published photographs, it sheds light on the context that inspired Van den Broek to create her body of work.
At the beginning of her career she focused primarily on the body in movement.
Her work has been nominated several times for the Zwaan (Swan), the most prestigious dance prize in the Netherlands presented by The VSCD (Dutch Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors), and again in 2017 for her latest work: “Accusations. The Black Piace (2015)” and “Co(te)lette (in 2008)” both won the ‘Zwaan’ (Swan Award – NL) for Most Impressive Dance Production.
Ann Van den Broek has also received the Diiorapthe Dance Award fot The Black Piece and the Mouson Award (2009/2010). The Mouson Award is an initiative of the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt (Germany). The Lady in Black, a documentary about Ann Van den Broek made by director Lisa Boerstra, was in March 2015 first screened in Cinedans Festival – Dance on Screen in EYE Amsterdam and subsequently broadcast on Dutch national television. The festivities of WArd/waRD’s 15th anniversary program in 2015 included the presentation of the book, protect/perform. Protect/perform looks over a period of fifteen years in the development of Ann Van den Broek’s artistic career. Based on conversations with author Marcelle Schots, reflections and many never-before-published photographs, it sheds light on the context that inspired Van den Broek to create her body of work.
