• Chris in action on the beach of Oostende at Theater aan Zee 2008
  • Chris in action on the zilvermeer beach in Mol at ZART 2009
  • Chris in action on the zilvermeer beach in Mol at ZART 2009
  • Chris in action on the zilvermeer beach in Mol at ZART 2009

Chris De Feyter (Belgium - 1969)

Chris De Feyter, dancer, circascien, performer (physical) actor and maker was born in Zoersel (Belgium) on the 9th of September 1969. He grew up in a natural environment and spent a lot of his time outside. His early interest in wolves and the fact that he spent in his youth a lot of time with a domesticated wolf gave him a passion for instinct, courage, loyalty and grace which reflect nowadays in his work.

All his life he's been doing sports. He practised and competed in some Martial Arts (Judo and Contact Karate) and won several Kick-Boxing tournaments (Open Belgian Championship etc.). For 3 years he was ranked in the Belgian Top Ten. Triathlon (semi-professional level) brought him to the level of seeing an extreme effort as a kind of a meditative experience. As well as the physicality and the contact in Rugby (First League in Belgium) brought him to the insight that even brutality incarnates a certain sophisticated beauty and requires a social conscience.

In September 1999, Chris De Feyter started to chase his big dream: combining physicality with art. After completing his Bachelor in Marketing in 1992, he was working for 7 years in the fire protection business. Since his childhood he was captured by acting, films and being on stage though his social background didn't give him the opportunities to develop himself in stage arts. At 30 years he auditioned and entered at l'Ecole de Cirque de Bruxelles and got a High Degree in pedagogic and artististic circus skills. He continued his studies with an education in Physical Theatre in the Mime School of Antwerp. He also received a 6 months professional scolarship in the circusschool of Madrid, Carampa (2004-2005) where he was trained in the creation of performances. During his stay in Madrid (ESP) he performed in "Hors Piste". Directly after his studies he raised Hamish and Flamish — a street theatre company — (2001-2008) together with Kurt Demey (performer, mentalist). They won with their act "Replay of the Secret Garden" several National and International prizes, e.g. Performance Art Festival (TaZ 2002, Oostende), Theaterconcours (2005, Alkmaar (NL)), Grote Prijs voor Cirkelacts (2005, Gent). In the meanwhile he participated in some side projects as Campo Viego (Circus), short movie (European Community), Hors Piste (Madrid (ESP)) Theaterfestival (De Singel 2006) Blauwe Plekken (Eric Raeves). During all this period he was teaching circus skills to children, youngsters and adults.

More and more fascinated by the body as a working object of expression but also as a container of emotions and a huge wire of psychosocial and evelotuonary interactions, Chris De Feyter got captivated by dance to express his musings and ideas. At the age of 38, he started to follow daily professional dance classes at Danscentrum Jette, Roxanne Huilmand (Ex-Rosas, Ex-P.A.R.T.S) and workshops at Ultima Vez (Wim Vandekeybus). After half a year he was dancing in "The Bed" a project from Angela Praed (GB) and did his first own dance theatre project "Nous" with Erki De Vries (artist) in collaboration with TaZ 2008 (Oostende). Afterwards (Fall 2008) he did a dance solo (Sterk Water) for choreographer Eric Raeves and several of his other projects (Blauwe Plekken, Theater onder het Vel).

Finally, he decided to create his own work and raised Dogwolf with his companion Ricardo Machado. "Entre Nous", their first outdoor dance theatre performance released August 2009 at "Tuin der Lusten" in the Netherlands. Afterwards the performance was directly invited by other festivals (Zart 2009 Mol), (De Groote Stooringe 2009 (Roeselare), and there is already a growing interest for next year (Theater op de Markt 2010 in Hasselt). Today, Dogwolf is creating his first inside performance "Not Yet". Chris De Feyter (Dogwolf) is recently been asked to work with other performers and dancers(new projects) and was invited for an impro-dance performance at BIMhuis (Amsterdam) last October (Monday Match).

New ideas, performances and projects for Dogwolf are already growing in his head.

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