music theatre in flanders - Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen

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Music theatre’s blurring
boundaries
Trends In MUsIc THeaTre ProdUcTIon
In Flanders (1993-2005)
Joris Janssens
VTi (Vlaams Theater Instituut) has made it a tradition to underpin
discussion about trends and developments in performing arts
production with material from its database. That database
provides ready-for-research information about professional
productions by Flemish producers during the period between
1993-1994 and 2004-2005 – the twelve seasons governed by the
‘Podiumkunstendecreet’ – the Flemish Parliament’s Performing
Arts Decree. In Metamorphoses. Performing Arts in Flanders
Since 1993 (Metamorfose in podiumland) we distilled a series of
tendencies from the material for the entirety of the performing arts.
We ascertained, among other things, an increase in production
during the examined period, a tendency among individual artists
to present themselves as independent field players, a tendency
to produce in joint venture and a distinct tendency towards
internationalization. Metamorphoses, in a nutshell, showed how
radically the production of performing arts in Flanders and
Brussels has changed since the 1990s. In 1993 the theatre
company, with its relatively permanent team of contributors, was
still the prototypical organization. Today we are seeing more and
more interdisciplinary production nuclei, which maintain casual
relationships with freelance artists and co-producers at home
and abroad.
Following the publication of this field analysis in 2007, we made
in-depth studies of the results for the various sub-disciplines and
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