Koert Stuyf died unexpectedly. Destitute, as befits a great artist, and still famous. The major newspapers are now writing about him again.
Unprecedented height
A striking personality, with a fabulous career in dance. Peaks reached, literally to the ridge of Carré, and valleys deepened. From a magisterial collaboration with an Aldo van Eyck (about Stuyf: "His work is the best ever shown on Dutch stages"), a Reinbert de Leeuw and Philip Glass, to a flat in Slotervaart and a state pension.
Reunited with his Ellen Edinoff, as he would have it. An inseparable dance couple they were, until Ellen ("one of the greatest dancers of our time, a phenomenon, an unsurpassed mistress only comparable to a Martha Graham", de Volkskrant) died in 2013. Not long before, she made an impressive comeback with Intaglio, during an evening curated by Philip Glass at the Rabozaal of Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. Nicole Beutler dedicated a ballet to her: The Re-invention of Ellen Edinoff, Solo from 5: ECHO, which featured this year.
Generous
Every dancer is nostalgic. Heroes or icons of the dance world are given a special and honourable stage place in the inspiration of young dancers, of choreographers and also of the public. So do Koert Stuyf and Ellen Edinoff, and their Contemporary Dance Foundation. The more obscure and the less tangible; the more magical the memory or aura of those names, those performances or that era.
So I was grateful and surprised when I received a reply from Koert. Of course he wanted to donate a canvas (he was very prolific with painting) and a photograph for an award ceremony! While no one could reach him for years, Koert showed himself to be disarming, brotherly and helpful. It eventually resulted in a lovely encounter. The above performance, which later turned out to be a farewell performance (Ellen would pass away from an illness she was already suffering from at the time), provided an opportunity to film Koert and, beyond my expectations and those of cameraman Leo van Emden, to interview him.
(read more below the video)
It was gallery owner Rob Malasch who, after four years of plodding, brought this event to fruition to his own surprise; for Koert could not only be uncompromising in his art, but also in his life, and with Koert one was inextricably linked to the other. Rather, it meant a brutal end to a tremendous impact on the dance world in the 1970s, with subsequent incomprehensible, years-long and self-imposed isolation.
Recovery and reconciliation
What a relief that Ellen was able to perform then after all. In the sigh she breathes in the filmed interview, you can see the burden slide off her. What an experience for Koert too, who, bare-breasted in the dressing room in front of the camera, was able to be a stage artist for a while.
The last time I saw him was in a lunchroom. He insisted on treating the best apple bun in The Hague. Had a new project in mind. Intaglio (intaglio), however, would remain his last feat. Unless he posthumously pulls another monkey out of his sleeve.
I will miss his sporadic messages.
(Photos: Zan van Alderwegen)
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