The literary-musical platform Dans! Dichter! Dans! celebrates its 10th anniversary with a festive program at De Roma. Expect a vibrant evening of music, spoken word and much more. Come and dance to the tones of musical poetry and the beats of Sophie Straat!
To make this anniversary edition one big party, Dans! Dichter! Dans! launched an open call aimed at emerging literary creators who want to experiment with a group of young musicians. Out of 76 participants, 4 were selected who will follow an artistic trajectory under the guidance of professional coaches.
You can come and hear the result on 17 April at De Roma. That evening, in addition to an exclusive concert by Sophie Straat, you will also get to hear musical spoken-word improvisations with a versatile collective of musicians.
Literary performers:
Elise Bauwens (they/them) is a writer, theatre-maker and sometimes DJ. Their work is often in an in-between space; between poetry and theatre, between theatre and techno and between techno and a minor existential crisis. Their writing is a fragmentary melancholic protest through pop culture and always in search of absurdity.
Ravi Rosoux (he/him) writes. Preferably at random. No conventions, everything subject to directionlessness. He has taken a residency at KONVOOI and currently resides at the Watlab in the Blikfabriek. He is working on his debut novel, on the things that take him away from it and back to it.
Sevdâ Sögütlü (she/her) is a spoken word artist and poet from Antwerp. She brings together love, philosophy and philosophy of life in poetry that touches the soul. Her name, which means ‘love’ in Turkish, reflects exactly what her work is about: the universal longing for connection. Her lyrics feel like a gentle embrace: vulnerable, but always with a powerful message.
Lisa Koo Gautama (she/her) is an artist working mainly with performance, poetry, dance, illustrations and music. She is currently working on a performance project Hymn to the Fallen Trees, exploring how performance and attention to nature can go hand in hand. For this, she collaborates with musicians, videographers and performers and gives workshops.
Musicians:
Ruben De Maesschalck (he/him) is a Belgian bassist who draws musical inspiration from a wide range of styles, from pop and jazz to dreamy worldly sounds expressed in his projects such as Bombataz, Woolvs and Aki.
Winter Dieleman (he/him) is a trumpeter and plays in SMAAT&LASTER, Rooty Tooth, Jokke and quintet Gestrikt, among others.
Lukas Youck (he/him) plays drums and is a versatile musician, having been part of several projects in recent years, including Cezanne, Apokalypso and his own ensemble: the Lukas Jouck Quintet.
Emma Borghys (she/her) starts from a solid foundation in classical violin and classical singing, and is now moving towards jazz. She joins the Dans! Dichter! Dans! collective with singing.
Sophie Straat
Dutch singer and artist Sophie Straat will close the evening in style with an exclusive concert. Since her debut EP ‘T Is Niet Mijn Schuld (2020), with which she won an Edison, the rise of the headstrong Sophie Straat has been unstoppable. The Amsterdam native is known for her innovative music and word art. In 2024, she released the EP Gebroken Spiegels: one long song, recorded with the Metropole Orkest, and, according to De Groene Amsterdammer, ‘unusually grandiose and daring’.
With her groundbreaking work, Sophie Straat quickly became the figurehead of the new generation of socially engaged twenty-somethings. A few years ago, for instance, she launched the song Tweede Kamer together with Goldband, calling for women to vote in the elections. And recently, she released the song Vlinder to denounce the genocide in Gaza.
