Nominations Swans 2018 known, so who will win?

The Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors and Festival de Nederlandse Dansdagen announce the annual nominations for the VSCD Dance Awards (the Swans).

Nominated for the Swan 'most impressive dance production' are:

Rule of Three, choreography: Jan Martens, from GRIP
The hidden floor, choreography: Franck Chartier, from Nederlands Dans Theater
We Are Nowhere Else But Here, choreography: Stephen Shropshire, from Stephen Shropshire Foundation, co-production Korzo Productions

Nominated for the 'most impressive dance performance' are:

Guido Dutilh for his role in Wir sagen uns Dunkles 
Gil Gomes Leal for his role in Aghori
The five dancers Marina Bilterijst, Gilda Federica Cesario, Alina Fejzo, Mariagrazia Nacci and Martina Orlandi for their roles in Thron

What does this say?

The Swans are pretty much the most important awards in the Dutch dance world. They are also called the Oscars of dance. Dutch dance then, because internationally, Moscow claims an Oscar, which is the Prix Benois de la danse. This year, it went to a controversial production On the life of dance legend Rudolf Nureyev.

It is waiting until October who will receive a Swan, a sculpture by choreographer and visual artist Toer van Schayk. On 12 October, the winners will be announced at the Gala of the Dutch Dance Days. This will take place during the Festival de Nederlandse Dansdagen, which takes place from 10 to 14 October 2018 in Maastricht.

Any guesses?

The likely winner in the dance production category is Rule of Three, a choreography by Jan Martens. This young Belgian choreographer has been making a big impression for some time and has never before featured so prominently in the jury's eyes. The laudatory texts ("indelible impression", "room for poignancy and tenderness", "extremely multi-layered performance that simply grabs you by the throats") point towards an outright winner.

Also The hidden floor (review here) is extremely praised and deserves to win. But NDT already won last year with a work by Marco Goecke and the year before, Part 2 from Franck Chartier's triptych was already nominated. The nomination We Are Nowhere Else But Here presumably serves to recognise Stephen Shropshire in his creative career as a choreographer. But, of course, he can also win outright. Last year, for example, he won the Special Prize at Dansersfonds '79, those other dance awards in the Netherlands.

Very special that Gil Gomes Leal has been nominated. You can still go far if you became known first and foremost as a dancer in So You Think You Can Dance. Good thing, then, that the judges took into account the prodigious talents of Gil, who built his career in earnest to include notable roles in Narnia (review here) at the Dutch National Ballet.

Also a nice nomination is Guido Dutilh for his role in Wir sagen uns Dunkles by Marco Goecke. It could have been a photo finish between the two men Gil and Guido, but that five dancers for their roles in Thron of Krisztina de Châtel have been nominated is unique. 'Though they seem identical, each dancer excels through this ability to contribute to the collective and to the eloquence of De Châtel's work.'

Who or what wins in any case is Dutch dance itself.

Festival the Dutch Dance Days

The VSCD Dance Awards are presented at the Festival de Nederlandse Dansdagen, the most important moment of the year for Dutch dance. The five-day festival in Maastricht, this year from 10 to 14 October 2018, celebrates the heritage, topicality and future of dance. Dutch Dance Days will showcase striking work by emerging choreographers as well as impressive performances by established dance companies: from urban dance and avant-garde to classical and modern dance. Ticket sales for the festival will start on 15 August.

The jury

The 2018 VSCD Dance Jury consists of jury chairman Rob van Steen (director, Theaters Tilburg), Judith Blankenberg (programmer, Grand Theatre Groningen), Iselle Claassens (programmer, Parktheater Eindhoven), Brigitte De Goeij (De Goeij Culture and Business), Swantje Schäuble (dancer), Leo Spreksel (artistic director), Violien Vocks (programmer, Parkstad Limburg Theatres), Jasper Weck (programmer Theater de Veste) and Liesbeth Wildschut (lecturer University of Utrecht).

Update

The winners have been announced:

We Are Nowhere Else But Here, by Stephen Shropshire Foundation in co-production with Korzo productions.
Dancer Guido Dutilh for his role in Wir sagen uns Dunkles From Nederlands Dans Theater 2.