In 1987, Wim Vandekeybus made his debut with Ultima Vez, and with What the Body Does Not Remember he introduced a decisive rupture in the history of European contemporary dance. More than a debut, the work stands as a foundational gesture: an extreme physical writing built on risk, speed, collision, and instinct, in which the body is constantly pushed toward a threshold of real danger. It is here that Vandekeybus’ vocabulary is defined—tension, reflex, friction, unpredictability—in an unstable balance between attraction and repulsion that earned the piece the Bessie Award in New York.
Nearly forty years later, the return of this masterpiece to the Romaeuropa Festival does not take the form of a simple historical revival, but rather of a reinterpretation that relaunches its radical nature. After a first revival tour in 2013, the 2026 edition expands the original structure with 17 minutes of new music by Thierry De Mey and an unpublished scene, reactivating its legacy of risk, instinct, and survival.
Wim Vandekeybus is a choreographer, dancer, director, and photographer who founded the dance company Ultima Vez in the mid-1980s. His debut, What the Body Does Not Remember (1987), won a Bessie Award, as did his second work, Les porteuses de mauvaises nouvelles (1989).
Vandekeybus is known for his unique movement language, which connects intuition, impulse, and instinct with energy, risk, and danger, often exploring the conflict between body and mind. His work is characterized by associative montages that weave together dance, live music, and film, as well as numerous collaborations with contemporary musicians and authors. Over time, his creations have evolved from a focus on physical tension toward more complex narratives and social themes, gaining widespread international recognition.
Thierry De Mey, born in Brussels in 1956, is a composer, director, and percussionist known for integrating mathematical structures into his artistic work. Influenced by Henri Van Lier and Fernand Schirren, he developed a vision of rhythm as movement.
He is a co-founder of the group Maximalist! and the Ensemble Ictus, and has collaborated extensively with choreographers such as Wim Vandekeybus and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. His compositions, including Musique de Tables (1987), explore the boundaries between music and movement, often through complex hand gestures that evoke a choreographic dimension. His work has received numerous international awards and accolades, blending dance, cinema, and music into a coherent and original artistic expression.
Peter Vermeersch, born in 1959, began his career studying architecture before dedicating himself to music, playing the clarinet and saxophone in various groups. In 1984, he co-founded the influential collective Maximalist! and later formed the avant-garde band X-Legged Sally, known for its eclectic mix of genres and collaborations with choreographers like Wim Vandekeybus.
Vermeersch also founded the Flat Earth Society, a big band that combines 1930s music with contemporary arrangements. His compositions are characterized by the fusion of popular and classical languages, often built on minimalist and repetitive structures. He has also worked as a music producer, collaborating with prominent bands such as dEUS and Think of One.
Ultima Vez is a dynamic space dedicated to contemporary dance in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (Brussels), founded by choreographer Wim Vandekeybus. It is a place where production and distribution take place under optimal conditions, and where creators share their artistic practices with one another and with a broad audience. Its activities include the artistic creations of Wim Vandekeybus, a support program for new authors (Ulti’Mates), and various participatory initiatives.
