Vlaemsch (chez moi) at Sadler's Wells review: thin gruel from Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

Vlaemsch (Chez Moi) by Sidi Labi Cherkaoui - (Filip Van Roe)

Nationalism – it’s a strange beast. You might expect every country’s ferment to cluster around similar concerns (foreigners, flags) – but this 2022 show by leading Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui performed here at Sadler’s Wells delves into Flemish national identity, and a weird stew it is.

For a start, Belgian is a two-tongue nation – as the title of this show, a mixture of French and archaic Flemish, suggests. Cherkaoui himself has a Moroccan father and Flemish mother, and it’s the maternal side he digs into here. Though, as a woman sings mournfully during the show, “Don’t call me Flemish Nationalist / Being Flemish is already hard enough.”