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What's on this week: 28 April-4 May

19:16 27/04/2017
Bozar night, Day of Dance and more. Here's our pick for this coming week

Dance companies, arts centres and workplaces open their doors to give audiences in Flanders and Brussels a taste of what the local contemporary scene has been up to lately. During Dag van de Dans (Day of Dance), choreographers and dancers will show and share why this country has become such a hub for international dance. Presenting performances, workshops, artist talks, open rehearsals and film screenings, both in and outdoors, in theatres and in the public space, the organisers, Kanaries in actie (Canaries in Action) are trying to make it an accessible experience for everyone by working with the country’s most prominent dance organisations. This edition of Day of Dance, which coincides with International Dance Day, focuses on the uniting force of dance and its ability to build bridges between cultures and disciplines, and between young and old, professionals and amateurs, performers and audience.
29 April, across Flanders and Brussels

Give all your senses a treat at Bozar Night, a nocturnal journey through art and electronic music. First you can visit Bozar’s current exhibitions, notably Pol Bury’s subtly mobile sculptures and Yves Klein’s blue paintings. Then you can dance along to a cracking line-up of producers and DJs. Top of the bill is Nathan Fake (pictured) of the UK’s Ninja Tune stable, who will be showcasing new work combining sound and video. Expect scattered beats, glistening modular drones, ecstatic synth lines and surprising hooks and glitches. The line-up is completed with Amelie Lens, Lone, Front de Cadeaux and Clara!
30 April, Bozar, Brussels

The Brussels Tango Festival celebrates the famous Argentinean dance, with performances in metro tunnels, parks, cafes and everywhere in between.
27 April-1 May, across Brussels

International Jazz Day is a Unesco-recognised day (or two) dedicated to jazz for its role in uniting people all over the world, with events scattered across the capital, including a tribute to the late Toots Thielemans, open-air performances, a guided walk and film screenings.
29-30 April, across Brussels

Flagey presents the premiere of the new biopic of Belgian jazz legend Django Reinhardt by French director Etienne Comar, preceded by a performance by The Rosenberg Trio, which produced the score, and followed by a Q&A with the director and lead actor Reda Kateb. (Film in French and German with Dutch subtitles)
2 May 20.15, Flagey, Place Sainte-Croix, Brussels

German artist Sylvia Hatzl is presenting her fourth Brussels solo show entitled AHNEN, a German word that evokes both forefathers and premonitions at the Boondael Chapel. The 15th-century chapel with a long and stormy history is now a cultural venue of the borough of Ixelles and provides spaces of all sizes in which Hatzl has been able to create some very large works as well as minuscule ones for the intimate spaces. Using silk, cotton, wood, entrails, pigments, soil, fabric, rope, rust, and ashes she creates pieces that evoke bodies and clothes - translucent shrouds, opaque torsos, sometimes stiff, sometimes contorted, gigantic and miniature. Her inspiration is directly caused by her physical contact with the materials. Every weekend in May the exhibition will present concerts.
Until 28 May, Boondael Chapel

If you've always wanted to experience the grandeur of the Cercle Gaulois interiors in their Royal Park location, and at the same time pick up some exquisite antiques to complete your interior or you just want to window shop in a beautiful setting, here's your chance. The Select Art Fair, composed of the creme de la creme of mostly Belgian antique dealers will be taking place over four days inside the Cercle Gaulois, exhibiting paintings, drawings, sculptures, jewellery, furniture and other collectibles.
28 April-1 May, 11.00-19.00

Some 170 years ago in central Brussels, 750 workers spent 15 months building one of the three oldest covered shopping malls in Europe: 40,000m2 including a theatre, flower market, restaurants, shops and apartments. Building the Saint Hubert Royal Galleries was possible because the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar figured out how to build a glass ceiling that didn't fog up. Since the 150th anniversary twenty years ago, the galleries have been renovated from top to bottom (the only new work until that time had been the reconstruction of the Théatre des Galeries in 1951, at which time René Magritte painted the theatre's ceiling). This year in time for the 170th, the lighting has been completely redone with LED to accentuate the myriad architectural and statuary details and also permit custom lighting for various events. To celebrate, every evening at 21.30, there will be a light show to the music of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody which was composed in 1847 - the year the galleries opened.
April 28-3 May, 21.30

The Fantastic Art Museum, a very weird place, will be even weirder next Thursday evening as it inaugurates its monthly nocturnal program. Every first Thursday of the month, a different artist will take over the museum for the night. This first edition will feature artist David P. If you've never been, here's a great excuse to finally check it out.
4 May, 17.00-21.00

Written by Ian Mundell, Richard Harris, Diana Goodwin, Tom Peeters, Paul McNally