Jean Baptiste Baele
Nabiman
Nabinam is an auto-biographical solo piece in which the protagonist comes close to the audience to recount his adoption story. The challenges he encountered along the way unfold in his retelling, such as the constant comparison of different skin colours or being apart from a sibling. Honest with a touch of humour, Nabinam takes the audience on a roller coaster of emotions with its unpredictable changes of pace.
Biography
Jean-Baptiste Baele is a freelance Belgian choreographer based in Kristiansand, Norway. Originally from Madagascar, he grew up in Belgium where he started to dance when he was 19 years old. Under the mentorship of Valérie Matthieu and Talina Jager, Jean-Baptiste evolved as a dancer in Belgium for three years before moving to London to study a bachelor's degree at Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance. After graduating in 2015 with the Marion North Award Of Outstanding Performance Achievement, Jean-Baptiste presented his piece Rhetorical is the good word, a duet with young Belgian artist Malik Zaryaty, in the Bonnie Bird Theater., He has performed for several choreographers such as Mia Habib (How to Die Inopiné, Norway), Daniel Mariblanca (Normal, Norway), Fred Gehrig (Synchronicity, UK), Freya Pauwels (Morning, BEL), Niki Van Callandt (Spectrum, NDL), Raynold Battesti (Nuits Nocturnes by Cie des sources, BEL), and Yves Ruth (U.F.O. by W.A.N.P., BEL) among others.
In 2018, Jean-Baptiste Baele choreographed his first piece A Tome just ended for the Perpetuum Mobile Festival, and met Julie Amal, with whom he founded Baejjahn Dance company, based in Brussels. He was co-director and choreographer of the company until 2021.
Credits
Dancer/Choreographer: Jean-Baptiste Baele
Composer/live music : Corentin Piquard
Light designer/Light technician: Johan Franklin Williams
Costume designer: Cecilie Nybakk Nore
Poetry writing: Anastacia Hoff
Video appearance: Linnea Ingebretsen Baele
External gaze: Mia Habib and Belinda Brazza