Optional Tours

Thursday 7 June 2007 – First congress day
optional programme in the afternoon

Option 1 : Ultima Vez at work !
Visit to famous dance company Ultima Vez at their studio.  Unique chance to sit in on part of a rehearsal and have a chat with Wim Vandekeybus, founder and driving force of Ultima Vez.

Option 2 : Guided walk – Cheers Brussels !
This walk will take you along typical Brussels’ pubs (Mort Subite,  Goudblommeke van Papier, Image de Nostre-Dame, la Bécasse, …)  and typical Brussels’ beers like Geuze, Lambic, Faro and Kriek.

Beer brewing will have no secrets anymore after your visit to the Museum of Geuze, established in an old 19th century brewery.   And all good brewery visits end with … right, a good beer in your hand !

And how about that other Brewery Museum on the Grand’ Place in Brussels?!  In its authentic surroundings and  atmosphere you will find a wonderful collections of beer jugs, mugs and glasses. 

There’s only one thing for it : Cheers Brussels !

Option 3 : Guided tour (by bus) – Brussels, the capital of Art Nouveau
Brussels is home to some of the most exquisite examples of Art Nouveau.  We visit the houses of architects Hankar and Horta on the Avenue Louise.  Along the ponds of Ixelles, close to Flagey, we take in the architectural heritage of Blérot and Delune.  You can enjoy the magnificent Solvay House, created by Horta for a famous captain of industry.  Also on the programme, the homes of painter Saint-Cyr and Paul Cauchie, definitely one of the finest Art Nouveau examples in Brussels.  Finally, we take you to the renowned Stoclet House, built by Jozeff Hoffmann, predecessor of the Jugendstil. 

Option 4: Visit to the Musical Instruments Museum + Pianola Rendez-Vous
A short visit to this wonderful museum, which exhibits a unique collection of musical instruments.

The MIM houses an exhaustive panorama of ancient, modern and traditional music, arranged into an attractive path divided into ninety-odd themes over the four floors of the exhibition area.

Each floor is centred on a particular section: popular instruments, from Belgium and Europe as well as extra-European instruments; a historical tour, from antiquity to the 20th century; the development of keyboard instruments and stringed instruments. The basement shows the mechanical instruments, 20th-century instruments and bells. In all, about 1,500 instruments are shown and more than 700 documents add to the information given on the information boards.

It would be sad to see the instruments without hearing them. The different themes of the exhibitions are illustrated by listening to works related to the instruments on display. By means of infra-red headphones, the visitor can listen to about two hundred musical extracts, from ancient Greece to the music of Varèse of the middle of the 20th century.

But, that’s not all… after your visit to the museum you are invited to the Pianola Rendez-Vous !

Feast your eyes and ears on some of the finest examples of mechanical pianos, one of which is the “Autopiano” from the estate of Her Majesty the Queen Elisabeth.  Your guide is Rex Lawson, a man who has devoted his life to the pianola.  Rex is one of the most highly revered performers and is an authority on all matters surrounding mechanically produced piano playing. He is among the directors of The Pianola Institute in London, whose goal is to restore esteem for the musical prowesses of these instruments.