Many of the company’s iconic pieces have been included, such as the controversial brick-throwing scene in which the performers hurl objects at each other and catch them again with seeming nonchalance. The physical danger shocked audiences at the time and earned Vandekeybus a reputation for courting danger and violence. “I am more interested in the psychology of the experience”, he tells me when I ask him why he is drawn to such extreme performances, “I like to push people, and provoke them to see how they react. It is not the sport or the skill of the performers which I want to show off but to find out what we learn from it. Also for the performers, it is a lot about trust and manipulation. Both trusting their own bodies and those of the other performers.” Did you consciously set out to be different from other dance companies? I ask. “Yes, I always try to be different but not just from other dance companies. I am inspired by a lot of things not related to dance and I try to bring those different backgrounds into my work. Like, I have chosen performers who maybe do not appear to be the best dancer but they bring something unusual which I can use”.

I finish by asking why he chose to call the company Ultima Vez, (which means last time in Spanish). “I was working in Spain at the time. I like the energy, and when I founded this company I thought to myself this is the first time I do this but maybe it’s also the last time - it’s a deliberate paradox.” ER