Ilse Trees Ghekiere

IIse Ghekiere is an artist working as a dancer, writer, critic, researcher, and educator. She studied at the Conservatory of Antwerp and holds an MA in Art Sciences from the Free University of Brussels. As a performer, she has collaborated internationally with choreographers such as Michèle Anne De Mey, Mette Ingvartsen, and Jan Martens.

In 2017, she received a scholarship to research sexism in the Belgian dance field and founded ENGAGEMENT ARTS, an artists’ movement addressing sexual harassment and abuse of power in the arts. Since then, she has worked internationally as a spokesperson and educator on transgressive behavior and institutional change.

Her research departs from the untold stories and lived experiences of dancers. Through the critical use of strategies such as collecting, mapping, and cataloging, she seeks to shift dominant narratives in dance. She has published essays and developed feminist methodologies and artistic formats in response to the #MeToo movement, including A Future Letter to Consent, The Heterosexual Duet R.I.P., and Going Naked.

She is currently a PhD candidate in artistic research at the Academy of Dance, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, researching the life and legacy of the German-Norwegian dancer and movement therapist Elsa Lindenberg.