Lijfbouwers (Building Bodies)

An ode to our strength and our vulnerability.

For 'Lijfbouwers' (Building Bodies), choreographer/creator Jotka Bauwens challenges three stage performers to a physical and mental rollercoaster. Under the guidance of world bodybuilding champion Kurt De Taeye, performers Elias Vandenbroucke, Patrick Vervueren and Jeffrey Jackson Loewenicht follow a professional bodybuilding workout for two months. Their bodies are measured, nutrition schedules drawn up, a daily workout established. They get a workout in which the body and mind face major challenges.

Which feelings, thoughts or physical sensations are released?
Who experiences new strengths, or who gets frustrated?
How far will they (want to) go?
What does this do to each of them as a person, what does this do to them as a group?

Searching for answers to all of these questions, they build ‘Lijfbouwers' together with Jotka. A visual-physical performance about strength, insecurities and vulnerability. One thing is certain: our bodies and minds are capable of much more than we think.

‘Lijfbouwers’ grew out of dancer/choreographer Jotka Bauwens' personal story and journey. After her dance training, she still didn't feel in her power. Jotka searched for what she was missing as a dancer, and discovered fitness and power training. What struck her was the vulnerability in those chilly gyms. In her own way, it made her feel at home and safe. Through power training, she built a strong armour around her own insecurities and her body found more strength than ever before. As a dancer/player, she blossomed - more self-confident as she was - on stage. The gym became a place of inspiration and her fascination and appreciation for a more extreme form of power training like bodybuilding remains. 'Lijfbouwers’ is a form of gratitude to the body and the mind. An ode to our strength and our vulnerability.