While the world is becoming more and more complex due to pandemics, wars, technology, and crises, it seems we must keep catching up. In the overtaking pace of processes, there is not much time left for ourselves. But what if we stop for a moment? What if we go slower, live more casually, and take things less seriously?

It is the starting point of choreographer Ayelen Parolin’s presentation of contemporary dance in its simple and honest side. Without music, stage effects, and sets, her new piece comes out of the need to simplify life. This dance dandyism uses the comic and the absurd to reveal the simplest and most significant human dimensions.

The three performers dance on stage, extracting sounds and rhythms from their movements, gestures, and impulses, from their sincerity and spontaneity. Their naivety makes them sometimes comical, childishly naive, and even absurd. They dance free of scruples, a counterpoint to the talking heads and experts dominating our agenda, proving that even the most important work requires a dash of lightness and fun.

Born in Argentina and based in Belgium, Parolin incorporates humour and surprise into her choreographic work, which reminds us that anything is possible, from the ridiculous to the dreamlike.

Choreographer and dancer Ayelen Parolin lives and works in Brussels. Originally from Argentina, she arrived in Europe in 2000 to study in Montpellier. She then began her career as a performer, collaborating with Mathilde Monnier, Jean-François Peyret, Monsieur-Bonnet, Alexandra Bachzetsis, Mauro Paccagnella, and Louise Vanneste.

Parolin started working as a choreographer in 2003. From her autobiographical solo 25.06.76 to the group performance WEG (2019), she has created over 20 works, including DAVID (2011), HÉRÉTIQUES (2014), NATIVOS (2016), and AUTOCTONOS (2017). Her diverse body of work turns contradictions into a signature feature, helping to illuminate the complexity of the self. Unpredictable and resistant to classification, Parolin navigates between different worlds and aesthetics, continuously exploring parts of herself and seeking what connects us to others.

She is regularly invited to collaborate with national companies and to create works for KNCDC – the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (2016), the National Ballet of Marseille (2017), and Carte Blanche – the Norwegian National Company for Contemporary Dance (2019).

In addition to her stage productions, Ayelen organizes horizontal workshops and laboratories for meetings, sharing, and exchanges, allowing for the testing of new ways of working and collective communication. Her company also facilitates audience engagement, usually in connection with her original performances, but also through workshops for non-professionals. The company emphasizes transversal and transdisciplinary interactions, such as collaborations with composer and pianist Lea Petra or physicist Pierre Dewitte.

Her company received the SACD Award for overall creative work in 2016 and the Critic’s Prize for NATIVOS in 2017. That same year, Parolin became a recipient of the Pina Bausch Foundation grant, which provided her with support. From 2017 to 2020, her company was in residence at Charleroi danse (Belgium). Ayelen was also a laureate of the Pépinières européennes pour jeunes artistes (XXL program) in 2006.

Her works have toured across Europe, North and Latin America, Asia, and North Africa, and have been presented at Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Montpellier Danse, Actoral (Marseille), 100 dessus dessous festival (Paris), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Tanz im August (Berlin), Centquatre-Paris, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Her company has been supported by Théâtre de Liège (2018–2022) and, since 2022, by Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles.