Juliette Spildooren

Juliette Spildooren in promise me (2021).
She rarely looks directly at you. Her North Sea eyes always ebb away, towards a distant horizon. She doesn't like this kind of talks. She speaks thoughtfully, weighs her words. She takes her time. ‘We are quite brutal to each other in the performance', she says. ‘We throw, we tear, we block each other. We hang on to each other's hair - and no, it doesn't really hurt, otherwise I would say it. But we do take care of each other.'

She too participated in as long as we are playing form kabinet k, an experience that was very different from how it feels to participate in promise me. ‘Maybe because I understand everything better now. Maybe I thought less back then. I compare myself to how Téa is now, because she has the same age I had then.

Keeping promises is important to her, but she never asked anyone to promise her anything before. Not something big, anyway. She carefully considers what such a big promise might be. Finally she says, 'promise me that you will keep on promising. Because that is a sign of trust. That is also very important in this performance. When Zélie balances on Kwint’s shoulders, she needs to know that the others are there to catch her.’