The iconic Tate Modern is to become a museum of dance for 48 hours as 75 performers take over the gallery spaces for displays and workshops, and the Turbine Hall is transformed into a nightclub, planned by French choreographer Boris Charmatz. The May project will feature performances ranging from ballet to krump as well as works by the renowned Charmatz himself.
The project was inspired by Charmatz’s unique outlook on both dance and the world in general, in seeing the world differently and too the different elements of choreography within it. Changing the perspective of the Tate will be a test of what would happen if Charmatz and his dancers took over from a dance point of view.
Charmatz first worked with the Tate Modern in 2012 on a small performance piece, through which he began to discuss doing something more ambitious. Charmatz is a choreographer who is always looking beyond being a dancer and choreographer, and the dance space that has been given to him. Creating dance for a proscenium stage is not enough for him, and lead him to consider the points between the art gallery and the theatre. As a result, his dance experience will be explored in how it also connects to everybody else’s experience of dance and dancing.
The Tate will undergo a complete transformation for its two-day alteration, presenting choreography and pop-up ventures in the collection gallery and the public spaces. Whilst walking through the venue visitors may find an ex-international ballet dancer, someone performing improvisation or a krumper; Charmatz holds dear the idea of giving the heritage of dance away for free by teaching and giving people something to take away from the experience in the dancing museum.
BMW Tate Live: If Tate Modern was Musée de la Danse? will be taking place throughout Tate Modern from 15-16 May.