The shared project Other People, common ground was born in 2019 after Mirte Bogaert and Menzo Kircz met by chance during a masterclass in Paris. Other People, common ground is a long-term collaborative project. During the time span of the project, the artists are examining the ideas of ‘work’ and ‘practice’ as professionals in the performing arts field. Through the project the artists wish to shift focus from the short term, the production of finished shows and new pieces to the long term and the unproductive. This way they are creating space to discover or give shape to what work in the performing arts can be, if there is no premiere to work towards, nothing to finish and nothing to sell. The aim is to focus on the work only, and try to figure out what that means while they do it. The total time span for the project will be at least twenty years, and in between the periods in which the artists work together, they will each follow their own paths and practices.
Mirte Bogaert is a Belgian dancer and choreographer, based in Bergen, Norway. She develops performing arts projects where she employs different strategies to integrate body, movement, sound, light and text with each other. She is interested in the relation between language and body, as well as translation as a source for developing material. Bogaert graduated from School for New Dance Oslo in 2014, and finished her studies at Research Studios at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels in 2018.
Menzo Kircz is a theater maker/performer based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His work often revolves around the re/de-construction of the world, in an attempt to better understand it. He believes the imagination is a political skill that is in danger of disappearing in a world full of images. One that we have to keep in good shape if we want to change the world for the better. Kircz has graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK/School of ARTS) Ghent.