Date: 10/06/2006
Place: Kaaitheaterstudio's

Heine Avdal tries to find a balance between his family life and professional life. He says he never made any conscious career choices but let himself guide by what came along. When still in Norway, he did not realize that there existed anything aside from the Norwegian national ballet and state modern dance company. He desperately tried to get a job there and when he did not succeed, decided to go to Germany to do auditions. He soon found out that that did not work for him either. He decided to stop looking for work and to start creating his own work. He got into P.A.R.T.S. and through a workshop he came in contact with Meg Stuart and Yukiko Shinozaki who later became his wife. After working for Meg Stuart for four years the two of them decided to start making their own work.

Brussels feels more and more like home because there are so many foreigners. Avdal thinks it is easier to feel at home in Brussels than in other European cities with a stronger identity. Because Brussels does not have a well-defined identity, it belongs to everyone. He used to feel very much part of a dance and performance community in Brussels. It was easy to relate to that community because the people who belong to it are all foreigners in a similar situation. He feels that he still does belong to that dance community but it slightly changed when he had a child The friends he has and the funding he receives make him belong to the Brussels dance community, but at the moment he feels more connected to a community of parents. That community is much more diverse than the dance community: it consists of people from many different backgrounds. This new community brings him more in contact with Belgian people. It gives him a stronger basis and connects him more to the city. Avdal experiences how having a child influences his mobility: he used to travel all over Europe, be in residencies… Having a child keeps him much more in one place. It became important for him to have a workspace in Brussels close to where he lives.

father – balance – conventions of a space – respond – codes – (un)consciously – wild audition trips to Germany – workshop – offer – need a change – clear identity – foreigners – narrow-minded – enlarging – lucky – same area – parents – overlap