Dance and music belong together. Yet there is always something new to discover in this combination. The Amsterdam Cello Biennale invited dance group LeineRoebana to create a dance and music performance with cellist Jakob Koranyi and CvA Percussion to music by composer Tan Dun: 'Snow in June'. In recent years, LeineRoebana has shown like no other group how enriching unconventional combinations between dance and music can be.
Of course, cello and percussion music has been danced more often, but Andrea Leine, Harijono Roebana and the dancers are closer than usual to music and dance. You can see from the dancers how they are touched and inspired by the music. Throughout, the group exudes great sensitivity to the rich and evocative music. Each sound or tap seems to set in motion yet another set of muscles in the dancers' bodies. Not for a moment is the dance predictable. That sheer contact between dance and music undoubtedly has to do with the musicians' integrated place in the whole. The percussion group and especially the cellist are included in the dancers' field of movement. In their striking white costumes, they dance closely around the musicians, emphasising how special each sound is, right down to the sound of tearing paper or chattering pebbles.
Another border shift is LeineRoebana's collaboration with two dancers from Dance Forum Taipei. In the previous two seasons, LeineRoebana had already moved eastwards with 'Ghost Track', which they made with Indonesian dancers and a Gamelan orchestra. Now they have made contact with Taiwan, and again it shows how beautifully LeineRoebana's fierce, whimsical movement style combines with oriental sophistication down to the fingers. It is these contrasts that make every detail catch the eye.
'Snow in June', dance group LeineRoebana i.c.w. Dance Forum Taipei, composer Tan Dun, cellist Jakop Koranyi and CvA Percussion. Seen: 28/10, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, as part of the Amsterdam Cello Biennale. See http://www.leineroebana.com/ and http://www.chasse.nl/theater/detail/17578/LeineRoebana-Snow-in-June