Sally McKay

20th July 2012. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker at Tate Modern

The Tanks, Tate Modern’s fabulous new extension, opened to the public on 18th July. Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker performed Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich which she adapted for this new space with dancer Tale Dolven.

These subterranean tanks used to contain a million gallons of oil in the former life of the building as Bankside Power Station, and now have been converted into a permanent gallery dedicated to live art and performance art. Converted by the architects who designed the first phase of Tate Modern in 2000, Herzog + de Meuron.

 Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Tale Dolven dance Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich in celebration of the opening of The Tanks

Fase set to four pieces of Steve Reich’s “phase music” investigates the relationship between music and movement. Containing four minimalist dances, each is finely structured following rhythmic patterns. We were free to mill around or to sit on the floor creating a square surrounding the dances, but nobody moved from the moment they walked on and began to dance to the end of the last dance 1 hour later, the audience was totally captivated.