'Kata' shows at @hollandfestival how inspiring a peaceful fight can be (review)

What a grandiose invention to think of breakdance as martial arts dance! In a way, of course, it has been so from the beginning. Young people in New York's poor neighbourhoods developed their spectacular dance techniques in the 1980s. These were a means for them to express themselves in their own unique way. This was a necessity of life in a society that rejected them. This was how they fought for their place in the world. The dance craze then caught on in many countries. Especially in France. And since 2000 also in the Netherlands. Last Saturday, the Holland Festival gave visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in this dance form for a day in a varied programme.

French choreographer Anne Nguyen and her company Compagnie par Terre draw the line. In the performance 'Kata', they turn breakdance into a real martial arts dance. They do this by combining this dance form with Capoeira, viet vo dao and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The lushness of breakdance stunts is downsized to razor-sharp precision. It is breathtaking to watch. You see eight personalities who fully embody the dance and completely draw you into their story.

Liberating energy

The fighting movements radiate a liberating energy. A completely different force, therefore, from the destructive purposefulness of the real fighter. With each movement, individually or between partners facing each other, you experience how wonderful the human body is when it sharpens itself to fight for its own survival. And at the same time, there is an understanding, a kinship, among the dancers. They are razor-sharp in tune with each other. The austerity makes every gesture apt without turning the other off. Everything is precisely chosen, without losing energy to drifting movements.

The show's title, 'Kata', is a term from Japanese martial arts. The word stands for an exercise in which a series of fighting movements are repeated endlessly. This is how the practitioner makes the movements his own, until they settle into his body like a natural reflex. In the performance, you see such a stream of movement exercises repeatedly. The dancers move across the stage from left to right or vice versa. In the process, they display fighting gestures, but above all, beautifully balanced bodies. They master exactly what they have conquered while practising and experimenting. The dance is fused with who they are. Thus, they radiate strength, freedom and personality. The flow of energy drags you along. The inspiring flow is propelled by the incessant pulse of electronic percussion rhythms. The lighting subtly changes the atmosphere each time.

Earth as a dance partner

Anne Nguyen does not call her company Compagnie par Terre for nothing. Earth has a central place in her work. Especially in the first part, you experience this. The earth is a dance partner. Through its dizzyingly light movements and turns, it seems as if the earth is tempted to nuance its single-minded, blunt gravity and give the dancer exactly what he needs to live out his lightness, to the limit of the weightless.

Among the eight dancers is one woman. It is striking that she is one with the men. Her gestures are equally defiant, apt and free. This is refreshing. The woman is there as an equal to the man. The thought need not even occur to you that that would be different. In the final section, there is room to put that unity into perspective. Between measured movements, the woman makes enticing gestures with her hand. This is part and parcel of her own position as a woman among men. A playful wink in a performance in which eight individuals show an impressive interconnectedness.

Becoming a breakdancer yourself

Anne Nguyen and the dancers want the audience to fully experience the liberating dance. In this, 'Kata' is supremely successful. But there is another extra to enhance the experience. Around 'Kata', installations have been set up in various rooms of the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam. One of them allows visitors to dance interactively with dancers in another room. In another room, a 3D surround installation lets you experience what it is like to be on stage among the dancers of Compagnie par Terre. In yet another installation, you can have a dancer's movements projected onto your body so you can briefly see what it would be like if you were a consummate breakdancer. And you can use photos of Compagnie par Terre's dancers to determine how they dance on a screen.

Symposium

And then there is the symposium 'Each One Teach One', which will discuss all sides of breakdance and the latest developments in the streets and theatres in a short time, interspersed with enviably beautiful demos by hip-hop students from Solid Ground Movement. In short, a day-long programme where you can surround yourself with the volcano of creativity that is breakdance.

Seen at the Holland Festival