Luea Ritter moved to Brussels when she was 24 years old. At the time she felt she needed to get out of Switzerland. It had become too small for what she wanted to do: integrating dance and visual arts. What she missed in Switzerland were cities like Brussels with a lot of international exchange and input from being surrounded by other cultures. Besides, she wanted to stand on her own feet and learn new things. She describes Switzerland as a country with a strong visual arts scene but without a very present dance scene. Brussels is unique in the sense that there are so many different cultures living together, unlike in Zurich and Berlin for example, where the majority of the dance community is still German-based.

Ritter feels part of a community that is not geographically located. It is a kind of net of people spread around the whole world. It consists of people she feels connected to, who have similar intentions, dreams and ambitions. She also feels part of a Brussels dance community. Because of her job in Les Bains, she got quite quickly ‘into’ it. She is in contact with the larger dance community when she is working or going to shows. She tries to limit the number of performances that she goes to. When she sees too many, it is difficult to stay open and neutral. She sees more interesting things happening on the Flemish side. A possible explanation could be that the Flemish performance culture is still very young, while the French side has difficulties to leave behind a whole tradition of text-theater and ballet.

Brussels is Ritter’s social and work city; home is the place where she lives at this moment: the countryside. Living there pulls her a little bit out of the community. She finds it quite challenging sometimes to come to Brussels: the noise, the smell, the rush hours, the way people treat each other,… Although Ritter is originally a visual artist, she feels more connected to the dance community than to the visual arts community. The latter is less visible and does not have as many centers and institutions. She thinks institutions play an important role in establishing a community. Another connecting factor is a common language to speak about performances.

At the moment, the focus in Ritter’s professional life is on her job as a project coordinator but she would like to bring her own art work more to the fore. As for her job as a coordinator, she usually feels recognized by the Brussels dance community. When she feels underrecognized, it is when she realizes that she works a lot for little money.

visual art – hunger – impulses – Africa – nature freak – net of people – vegetables – selective – overload – mentality – vocabulary – open-mindedness – gardening – in deep silence – artistic scientist – capture – hobby activity at the side – train-platform – moods – nail down to – honest feeling