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Frank Van Laecke and Alain Platel. (Photo by Luk Monsaert.)

A cat has nine lives. 

They have more. 

And during their final life, they found each other in a safe ghetto. 

If you sneak your way in, you can see them clawing, growling, and hissing. 

And when the ghetto is demolished, all lives seem to have been used up. 

The trip to nothingness is crushing. 

Because even skin has a memory. 

Inspired by the penetrating film Yo Soy Así (by Sonia Herman Dolz), in which the closing of a transvestite cabaret in Barcelona affords us a glimpse into the private lives of a memorable group of older artists, actress Vanessa Van Durme collected a number of transsexual and transvestite friends for a project that can be called unique in every respect. Gardenia is not a work of fiction. Gardenia is a singular account, the most intimate of tales. 

Gardenia goes deep into the turbulent lives of nine striking people—seven older individuals, who seem to effortlessly navigate the twilight zone between being male and being female, in contrast to and in harmony with a “young guy” and a “real woman.” Each on a quest, each with their own intriguing story. Sometimes funny, sometimes overwhelming.  Sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious. Each with a trunk full of longing. Often lost or out of reach. Sometimes endearing. Mostly unusual. In their minds, the sounds of the past. In their eyes, doubts about tomorrow but also a healthy dose of hope. 

Nine individuals so special you will want to get to know them. Want to embrace them. 

What binds them are the marks scored deep on their souls. 

What drives them is the unimaginable will to survive. 

In the hope they will succeed. 

Through transformation. Or not. 

In the knowledge that the price is incredibly high. 

A cat has nine lives. 

They have more. 

But the question is whether 

this makes them enviable… 

Each one is searching. 

Each lives in a world that is sometimes strange, sometimes not, sometimes overwhelming, 

sometimes not. 

Everything is still open. 

The path can lead us everywhere. 

Also to things we wish to avoid. 

And above all to things that mustn’t be denied. 

This choreography of genders. 

This journey or this struggle towards an identity. 

This bizarre world, sometimes dark and at the same time so luminous. 

This story will certainly be an authentic and honest testimony, nourished by what the cast gives us every day. These generous people so full of scars—scars on their skin and scars that we don’t perceive at first sight—but with a will to survive the prejudices of which they were or still are the victims. 

These are slices of life, put into a visual show where dance harmonizes with song, with words and phrases, but perhaps above all with special and vulnerable souls you’ll want to embrace. The journey is so dear to us. We advance without hurrying, and every second is a magical discovery, an immense treasury of information—an unforgettable encounter that is certain to change our lives. 

Alain Platel founded les ballets C de la B in 1984; under his direction, the company has achieved international acclaim, adopting the motto ” this dance is for the world and the world is for everyone.” Frank Van Laecke has directed numerous plays, operas, and musicals internationally, as well as served as the artistic and actors’ director of a popular youth series for Belgian television. Gardenia marks their first collaboration. 

May 2010; reproduced by permission of les ballets C de la B.