A brief history
The Domzaal owes its name to its domed roof, which creates a cathedral-like atmosphere. There have always been a whole range of activities in the Domzaal. It was originally used by the socialist gymnastics clubs, one of which is said to have been the first mixed-sex gym club in Flanders. Then came art. In reaction to the Chambres d’Amis project in 1986, created by Jan Hoet, the controversial curator of the SMAK, the Ghent Museum for Contemporary Art, a few visual artists set up the Initiatif d’Amis project, in the Dome Hall and elsewhere.
In 1988, Vooruit itself came up with a mix of sports, dance and music, called ’’Games Room’’. This was an artistic confrontation between basketball players, fashion designers, concept designers, composers and young dancers. From 1996 until 1997, The ‘Blauwe Maandag Compagnie’, the in-house theatre company, worked here for 17 months on a prestigious project, namely ‘Ten Oorlog’, Shakespeare’s six king plays in one nine-hour marathon performance, which was quite simply a milestone in Flemish theatre.
However, besides being a rehearsal room, the Domzaal is a theatre in its own right. On of Vooruit’s great advantages is that it can move the performances and concerts to the location that suits them best : the bigger performances with huge scenery and lots of actors are staged in the Theaterzaal, smoky jazz concerts in the Balzaal, Midsummer Night movies in the Café, dance events in the Concertzaal and intimate monologues or dance solos here in the Domzaal.
Facts
The Domzaal is located right at the top of the front building, between the two towers. Its iron supporting structure with the well-known three-hinge trusses can be clearly seen. The room used to be reserved for the socialist gymnastics clubs and for the rehearsals of the Vooruit Brass Band, known as De Volksvrienden (People’s Friends).
After the Liberation in 1944, the Allies used the Domzaal for sport and christened it the Games Room. Afterwards the state of the room gradually deteriorated and it fell into disuse. The hall was restored in 1993 as a multi-purpose room for more intimate concerts and theatre and dance performances, and as a rehearsal room for the in-house companies of Vooruit, such as The Blauwe Maandag Compagnie.
A stage and movable seats were installed, and the adjacent rooms were made into a foyer, a cloakroom, a production office and a theatre box. But the Domzaal doesn’t play host to the Performing Arts, it also welcomes exhibitions and new media.The Dome Hall can seat an audience of 215.
