A day with ... Mijke Harmsen
Mijke Harmsen has been the programmer for dance, theater, NEXT & school performances for secondary education at Schouwburg Kortrijk since February '22.
7:50 a.m.
Breakfast chaos in a house full of night owls.
8:45 a.m.
Cycling to Antigone together with colleague/neighbor Amin for the school performance *C.A.T.C.H.* by Aicha Cissé, Aminta Demba & Frédérique Lecomte / KVS.
9:35 a.m.
Just popping into the hall for a quick look. Bad timing, as it turns out: I interrupted the artists' soundcheck and warm-up.
9:55 a.m.
All the students have arrived. Just a quick introductiontalk together with Clara from Antigone.
10:00 a.m.
Start of the performance
12:35 a.m.
Lunch break. Time for lunch at the NEXT café with Virgile from the NEXTfestival and Bram & Mahtilde from the BUDA arts centre.
2 p.m.
After the lunch break, I quickly headed to the office at Muziekcentrum Track for a one-on-one with our director, Alexander Ververken.
3:05 p.m.
After the meeting with Alexander, I quickly got back on my bike. Heading towards Harelbeke this time, to welcome the artists and oversee the performance at CC het SPOOR.
3:35 p.m.
After a drive of just under half an hour, I arrived at SPOOR. Time for a meeting with technician Niels and the entire technical team.
4:45 p.m.
Consulting with Frederik from CC het SPOOR while spacing and focusing the final lights for the upcoming NEXT performance, 'Gentle Unicorn'.
6:10 p.m.
A workshop for wind instruments will be held prior to the performance. Italian actress Chiara Bersani will lead the workshop herself.
8:05 p.m.
The audience is entering the SPOOR. I welcome them and attend to them briefly in the entrance hall, where they have to wait for the doors to open.
10:45 p.m.
After the performance, there was time to catch up with some of the audience members.
Once everyone had left the bar, it was time to lock up.
When I was a teenager, my father used to say: "You don't always have to turn off the light switch." But this time, I really have to ;-)
11:05 p.m.
Time to head home after a busy workday. Still a half-hour ride ahead. Right, back on the bike towards Kortrijk, then - tired but satisfied - off to bed.