©Nika Prokopenka

Songs From The Void - JOP 2023

Every year, Muziektheater Transparant and DE SINGEL’s youth project gather a group of talented young individuals, aged 15-25, for a special two-week creative process. The project's success hinges on strong teamwork, individual talent exploration, technical support, and the guidance of experienced professionals like Timo Tembuyser, Hélène Vrijdag, Joachim Badenhorst, Joffrey Anane, Denis Inghelbrecht, Lennart Heyndels, and Sara Schoon.

The theme of 2023 was Chaos. During the two weeks intensive, the group explored a mix of music and dance, ranging from jazz to pop hits to original compositions. With their collective creativity and the input of the coaches, they produced an intriguing theater piece called Songs from the Void.

Coaching

Theater

Choreographer

©Nika Prokopenka

Team

Direction by Timo Tembuyser / Hélène Vrijdag
Musical direction by Joachim Badenhorst / Lennart Heyndels
Choreography by Joffrey Anane / Denis Inghelbrecht
Artistic coordinator by Wouter Van Looy
Scenography | Costumes by Sara Schoon
Costume assistant by Kasia Mielczarek
Sound | Video by Pieter-Jan Buelens
Production manager by Sebastiaan Peeters
Production assistant by Phaedra Pribilla
Technique by Pat Caers
Audiomix by Pieter-Jan Buelens

My experience

Over the course of two weeks we created an one-hour theater show with multidisciplinary artists. This wasn't an easy task as it took sometime to get to know everyone individually and work out an overal idea of the piece. Though the participants were amazing, flexible, and willing to explore other artistic forms, which in turn made it easier for us coaches to create material.

It was incredible to witness the growth of the piece over the two weeks, not only as individual artists they evolved, but also as a cohesive group. After the program was finished, many of them stayed in contact. Which in my opinion is the biggest success of the project.

©Nika Prokopenka

I've learned a lot from the other coaches, whether it was directing, vocal ranges, audiovisual art, or music composition. It was fascinating to witness the evolution of every artistic discipline and to be part of that process up close. Sometimes, we become so absorbed in our own artistry that we tend to forget everything that is actually required to set up an entire theater piece.

Through this project, I gained a better understanding of these disciplines, and I plan to implement some of their elements in future projects.

All in all, I'm incredibly proud of what the team has achieved in just two weeks!

Images

©Nika Prokopenka

©Nika Prokopenka