The trailblazing Alain Platel returns with nine dancers from his critically acclaimed contemporary ensemble les ballets C de la B, for the dark and moving nicht schlafen. Inspired by the music of Gustav Mahler and the time the composer lived in, Alain Platel draws parallels between the music and the troubled early years of the 20th century in Europe.

Alain Platel’s regular collaborator, Steven Prengels, uses African polyphonic chants, cowbells and the sounds of sleeping animals to create a surprising soundscape in contrast with Gustav Mahler's adagios and symphonies, confronting Western classical music with African culture. Visual artist Berlinde De Bruyckere sculpts the startling image of the bodies of dead horses, piled up in a jumbled heap. This is a dance of life and death.