Mini festival of extremes at Nederlands Dans Theater's young guard

ADVERTORIAL They could hardly be further apart. Alexander Ekman and Sharon Eyal both make dance pieces, and are both children of the Nederlands Dans Theater, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. In the new programme of NDT2, the young makers' house of the internationally leading dance company from The Hague, features world premieres of new work by these young choreographers.

From Alexander Ekman, we can expect a ballet as rhythmic and dynamic as his previous work. The man who once started out as a dancer with the Royal Ballet of Sweden and the Cullberg Ballet can hardly work without humour either. As a result, his ballets are very accessible to audiences not so used to modern dance. Born in 1984, the dancer definitely chose an existence as a choreographer in 2006, and this has brought him much success. He has won many awards, and his best-known work 'Ekmans Triptych - A study of Entertainment' has been touring the world with great success since its premiere in 2010. For NDT, he recently made Cacti, which shows a different side of his work.

How different, then, is the work of Sharon Eyal. This Jerusalem-born choreographer stood out as a dancer and later choreographer with Israel's Batsheva Dance Company. Her work is darker in colour than Ekman's. Since she collaborates with VJ and underground composer Gai Behar, her work exudes the atmosphere and dark dynamics of the techno entertainment world. Hard beats and robotic movements created by dancers dressed in sometimes terrifying costumes. A great example of her and Gai Behar's work is 2012's United Black, a collaboration with Goteborgs Operans Danskompani in Sweden.

To complete the presentation of NDT2's young dancers, the programme, which premieres 4 April, also includes performances of two classics from the Nederlands Dans Theater's repertoire. These will include a performance of the famous work Dream Play, which former associate choreographer Johan Inger in 2001 based on Igor Stravisnky's world-famous ballet piece Sacre du Printemps. Inger, who since leaving the Nederlands Dans Theater in 2003 has also worked with the Cullberg Ballet, among others, turned Sacre into an at times relatable encounter between the sexes, in which the young lovers sometimes encounter the inventive scenery rather heavy-handedly.

Studio 2 is also an existing work, created by artistic directors Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot on the occasion of Nederlands Dans Theater's 50th anniversary. The work is an ode to the blood, sweat and tears shed in the company's rehearsal room, the place they believe is actually where real art is made. In this performance, it also becomes an ode to the young dancers and choreographers who are working hard in NDT2 to perfect their art, hoping to one day make it to the small and exclusive company of top artists in dance.