Vincent Riebeek creates provocative work that challenges conventions and expands the limits of dance and performance. “Starting out as a ‘self-taught’ dancer, I embrace this outsider status and incorporate influences from both high and low art. I aim to propose alternative realities that challenge binary thinking and encourage empathy and exploration of failure. I explore a new real, encouraging audiences to create their own narratives, identities, and utopias. My core intention is to create a liberating experience that is emancipating for both the audience and performer.”

Vincent is currently working on a new performance, in collaboration with Antonio Maia. The project delves into the complex history of the notion of dancer/courtesan, which can be traced back to ancient cultures where the words for "dancer" and "prostitute" were often interchangeable. The project critically examines the societal, cultural, and political implications of the conditioning of dancers' bodies and minds, which often involve processes that border on sexual grooming.

A remake of an indecent contemporary cult classic.

The duet Don’t clap for Crap(not another shit show) is a remake of Kein Applaus für Scheisse, first performed by Florentina Holzinger and Vincent Riebeek in 2010. The scabrous pas de deux grew into a cult classic. Now it goes into reshuffle mode with Riebeek and Argentine performer Nica Rosés.

‘Much crazier than your erotic fantasies,’ Knack wrote. ‘The vomiting scene is then followed by — what else? — urination,’ The New York Times went crazy. Well, the absolutely graphic duet of thirteen years ago reveals itself as a pressure cooker in which high and low art, circus acts, revue show and seventies performance art come to a boiling point, and the line between art and kitsch is completely blurred.

As in the original, this interpretation grabs notions of partnering and virtuosity from classical ballet by the short hairs. This time, Vincent Riebeek does so in collaboration with performer Nica Rosés. Virtuosity, in Riebeek’s view, consists of a sincere partnership between performers of integrity, with what he calls ‘a real body with organs’. Thus, the performance is also an ode to trust, connection and sisterhood.

Sisterhood? Yes indeed, Don’t clap for Crap is Riebeek’s debut as a female entity within his choreographic practice. Riebeek: ‘My personal journey has led me to embrace my gender identity and transvestism, and with it the body’s ability to embody multiple identities.’

Don’t clap for Crap is a rollercoaster with a big ‘this can’t be true’ factor. Beneath the not-for-sensitive-stomachs performance and deceptive craziness, a liberating alternative to our performance society in which everything is put under a filter opens up. Not here. Don’t clap for Crap is genuine in every way.