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Meppelgate! (2): Living in Meppel is also a choice.

You could wait for it. Meppelgate. Marieke Heebink, top actress with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, had the audacity to say in the newspaper that she is happy to be in a sold-out 'Angels in America' in New York. "Thank God I don't have to go to Meppel" she says. Aj. Aj. How dare she! That is guaranteed to generate angry reactions. And not just from Meppel.... 

Meppelgate! (1) Actress talks up Melle Daamen from New York: Thank God not to Meppel!

What does the canalside have against Drenthe anyway? Now Marieke Heebink again. It started with Yvonne Kroonenberg who, after a visit to Assen, spoke of "Simple people with those classic Drenthe heads, but with expressionless eyes. I walked around there and tried to understand those people in the same way I try to immerse myself in the spiritual life of animals." Afterwards, Kroonenberg rushed to... 

Four reasons to go to Words & Beyond II: Nan Sul Hun

After the world premiere of Words & Beyond II: Nan Sul Hun by Seung-Won Oh yesterday at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, the audience stood up as one to applaud Slagwerk Den Haag and the soloists. It was therefore a magical performance, which will be repeated at De Doelen in Rotterdam and at Theater aan de... 

Spectacular slow down in Bruges: Slow (36h) makes 'nothingness' palpable.

We are moving too fast. Politics moves too fast, the news moves too fast, and no one takes the time anymore to spend a quiet time listening to a piece of music, reading a thick book, or listening to and watching slow art for 36 hours at the Bruges Concert Hall. So the concert hall in Bruges is organising a festival with... 

Sallie Harmsen and Joris Smit in Tasso (photo Kurt van der Elst)

Drama about art: to do or not to do? Ivo van Hove and Sallie Harmsen think so.

The National Theatre will premiere Blueprint for an Even Better Life on 8 November 2014, which addresses, among other things, the position of artists in society. A theme that also featured in their recent Tasso, and in Toneelgroep Amsterdam's successful The Fountainhead. Is the subject of art back on the theatre agenda due to the changed cultural politics of the past... 

The Culture Congress

On Monday 27 October, "The Culture Congress" took place. A cleverly chosen name that suggested that this congress was unique in its kind and that there was a big organisation behind it. All the more surprising that this was only the first edition. And that the initiative came from one person. During his opening speech, Job Gerlings took us through... 

World premieres by MacMillan and Roukens at Vredenburg's Friday

After years of concerts in the 'Red Box' on the A2, AVROTROS' De Vrijdag van Vredenburg on Radio 4 returned to the centre of Utrecht last summer. The new TivoliVredenburg was built entirely around Vredenburg's former Great Hall, renowned worldwide for its fabulous acoustics. Many a tear was shed at the reopening. To a new hall belongs... 

Another boost for the Netherlands: ministry understands usefulness of music education.

'The experts have written an inspiring guide, which demonstrates the importance of good music education and also makes clear which steps need to be taken to achieve this. The experts spoke to representatives of primary education, teacher training institutes and the cultural sector. The guide has broad support. Like the experts, I believe that good music education is a responsibility of... 

3 wonders in Bussemaker's letter: Culture sector is wiser than ministry

A small miracle did happen, in recent months. The result of that miracle can now be found in letter Jet Bussemaker, minister of OCW, sent to the chamber yesterday. And actually, it is not one miracle, but three. We list them for you. 1: The art world pulls together. Artists often find actors... 

Bussemaker: 'Encouraging our culture to add value to society'

Of course it is ok, that cultural and creative summit we had here. Bussemaker could suddenly talk at a high level again and art suddenly appears to matter again. After all, the creative industry is also about art again. Even if it is just our old art, because at such a conference with those Asian countries, of course, it is usually about... 

How do you listen to a minor Nobel laureate? The Speech Doctor reviews: Malala

This month marks two years since 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala was gunned down by a Taliban fighter in Pakistan for standing up for her right to education. Two years later, 10 October 2014, Malala, now a 16-year-old schoolgirl, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It was not her first award, nor was it her first (thank you) speech. All... 

The arts are back with the creative industries. If only that goes well.

In the presence of WAKVN*), our culture minister Jet Bussemaker gave a speech to other culture ministers today. It was about creative industries, as a conference on that is now under way in our country. Exchange of knowledge between Asian culture ministers and the Netherlands is already quite unique. For the Netherlands to drop the word 'art' in a meeting on the creative industry is thereby... 

Rademaker_Marine

De Wereld Draait Door with 'the best Dutch dancer in the world'

When De Wereld Draait Door shows live ballet on air, there must be something going on. And indeed, dancer Marijn Rademaker announces that he has been appointed principal with the Dutch National Ballet. That's no mean feat. He is considered "the best Dutch ballet dancer in the world today".

On a lousy little studio stage, Marijn shows why he is an important dancer. He dances a duet from Hans van Manen's Fantasia, which is now running in theatres. Ra...

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'I feel the need to make everything right in the world stronger than ever.' Laura van Dolron on 'Loving'

Previously, her performance allowed her to think heartbreakingly through love, infatuation and heartbreak. Now her performance is about love in the broadest possible sense. Earlier, she made theatre in which she wrestled with questions. Now she shows that struggle much less and shares the answers she has found with the audience. Earlier, she could still claim... 

'Detectives with no plot, no crime, no denouement, where every answer raises 10 new questions.'

The Nobel Prize for literature and the Netherlands, it is an unhappy marriage. Not only is Nooteboom, after Mulisch, passed over time and again, on television it is also poor. Yes, on DWDD, people in their fifties trot out to sing the praises of Bob Dylan, but that's it. Of course, Dylan did not become the new laureate, nor the Haruki Murakami, also popular in our country, but the French writer Patrick Modiano.

Who? We want to know more about that!

Oui. But who thought that da...

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Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

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Bare Joris-Jan Bos

The most fun concert ever is Bare, a choreography for six musicians

In Bare, choreographer Kenzo Kusuda shows portraits of six musicians of the New European Ensemble as in a choreographic documentary. These come at you in the dark and finally climb over your seat. You can't make your message any clearer.

Thousands of hours they have to study, those musicians. But for them, music is the most beautiful thing there is. Hence, they even want to take out a second mortgage on their musical instrument. It is the struggle of the musician that is at the centre of Bare. The ...

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Belgium beware: artists defending subsidies. You can do better.

With a new government in Belgium, the debate on art subsidies has also erupted there. The issue there is only 0.7 per cent of the national budget. The cut of a mere 10% is less substantial than in the Netherlands under the PVV's noose, but the arguments are the same. Though they are often better articulated. Josse de Pauw, international... 

The magic formula: art covered in applesauce

The post on facebook that dominated my timeline today: the spontaneous concert at NS station Amsterdam Centraal, taken from the NRC's website (link: http://www.nrc.nl/muziek/2014/10/09/hoe-drie-artiesten-onverwacht-samen-optraden-op-adam-cs/ For several weeks, this station has had a piano on which anyone can play. A playful action by the NS to make waiting more fun. This leads to surprising situations. Like this one in which a pianist... 

All the feature films of Theo van Gogh (1957 - 2004) at EYE, tribute to a free spirit with a big heart

"Theo van Gogh tried so hard to be an enfant terrible that we almost forgot that he was one of the Netherlands' most creative and productive filmmakers." I wrote this for the GPD papers on 2 November 2004, after an editor called me with the terrible news of the filmmaker's violent death. Soon, that murder was exactly ten... 

Make amateur videos! And 6 other tips from experts for arts settings on YouTube

This post should have been a video. I was planning to go into my garden with the ipad, to tell you, in the company of my dog Rufus, how important video is in contemporary art communication. And not a good, beautifully shot and rap edited video, but wonky, home-made, not very to-the-point video. Which is very personal though.... 

Grindr experiment in Berlin discontinued. Artist meets boundaries 'theatre of experience'

Forty roofless hotel rooms, and then hearing your own story back as you see yourself reflected in the distant ceiling. Or: walking behind a guide through the Lombok district of Utrecht, while being provided with an overload of extra information on your headphones. About your guide. Or not. About yourself. Welcome to the universe of Dries Verhoeven, since a small... 

Get the performing arts out of the margins: 1 award, 1 night, 1 gala. 100 cameras.

We can make a long story short. September and early October are raining awards. Every performing art form celebrates its own party. Theatre does it with Theo and Louis, cabaret with the Poelifinario, a Cricket is awarded somewhere, and then you have the Musical Awards and of course the Swans and the Dioraphte Prize. You can already feel it hanging: there... 

Rowwen Heze was not among them. The best tweets about the calves in a row

There was, of course, that ceremony on TV. But there was also a ceremony on Twitter. Which started much earlier than that ceremony on TV. The calves were already falling from the sky while we were still watching the news. We listed the celebration. From half past two, Friday afternoon. [View the story " Calvertweets from Utrecht.... 

Beat the jury: decide who wins the Golden Calves

About the curious omissions from the nominations has already been one and other said. And it does clean up, of course: so many films, and then so few really good ones. Or so. Anyway. Friday 3 October is almost Animal Day and Feast of Sacrifice and therefore a great time for the Golden Calfs. Choose your favourites below. Let's see if it matches the results.

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