INTRODUCTION

Based on the interview project and exchange with the B-Chronicles think tank, the sociologist
Delphine Hesters wrote a theoretical essay on the notion of ‘community’ in times of transnational
mobility, with the Brussels dance community as her focal point. Hesters probes notions as
‘international’, ‘transnational’ and ‘local’ in relation to the gravity of the professional dance field,
and follows migrants and guest workers on their way into the system. A central thesis is her analysis
of the dance world as a ‘greedy institution’, that demands full dedication and entails the conflation
of life and work, a mechanism that conversely also underpins the existence of a dance community.
Looking at the dance community from an internal perspective, Hesters wonders why members of the
Brussels dance community are reluctant to consider themselves members of this community. Then,
what is their sense of belonging, and of identity? Hesters concludes with the thesis that the “dance
community is a mode of productivity”, it is based on the mutual recognition of potential colleagues.
This informal but effective network allows for a diversity of people and working formats to find a
place within the official system, but also instigates new forms of artistic self-organisation. The facts
and fixions of B-longing is also available in Dutch.