Free-lance arts journalist Leidsch Dagblad. Until June 2012 employee Marketing and PR at the LAKtheater in Leiden.
Vlindertje Smit en de dienstbaarheid aan wat dood is Het is een ordelijke, schone ruimte, niet ongezellig, ondanks de stukken paardenbeen die in hun vitrines het atelier domineren. Beeldend kunstenares Vlindertje Smit prepareert dieren en delen van dieren. Terugdenkend aan de publicitaire storm die de Britse kunstenaar Damien Hirst met zijn geconserveerde-dierkunstwerken opwekte, zou je kunnen verwachten dat Vlindertje Smit…
In the first half of the 20th century, dance did not represent much in the Netherlands. There was some interest, but it exclusively concerned classical ballet. The successful dance performances all came from abroad.
It has all but disappeared from the history books that a remarkably creative and original dancer and choreographer settled in our country during those years: Gertrud Leistikow (1885 - 1948).
When someone speaks in sentences with words that repeatedly rhyme with 'art' or in which the syllable 'art' keeps popping up, you have to adjust to a different logic than that of everyday communication. If it is also a woman dressed in bright red who pronounces those words eloquently and with many mannerisms, suggesting that she is hyper-sensitive to anything to do with art, your thoughts balance between:
That Serbian Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Austrian crown prince in 1914, thus triggering World War I, was until recently in the Netherlands no more than a dry historical fact. But now that it has been a century since this attack, this young freedom fighter is still getting a face in our country. But what De Warme Winkel is doing in the performance 'Gavrilo Princip' is much more than 'giving a face'.
Breaking new ground in theatre is the aim of Canadian director Robert Lepage and his group Ex Machina. It seems like everything is unusual about 'Playing Cards: Spades': playing floor, lighting, seating around the stage, the stories, the acting and the surprising denouement.
It will be a total experience, as if you were briefly in another world. 'Mirror Mirror' by Conny Janssen Danst is set in a former submarine hangar of the Rotterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij (RDM). The audience is taken there by boat.
Rechte lijnen, eenkleurige vlakken. Rood, geel, blauw en wit. De essentie van de werkelijkheid weergeven. Dat was het streven van de schilders van De Stijl in de eerste helft van de vorige eeuw. In dezelfde tijd had ook Hendrik Valk dit ideaal.
Young, promising talent among choreographers deserves protection in these times of austerity. Dance group Conny Janssen Danst is committed to this with the programme 'Rotterdam Spring'. Besides work by Conny Janssen herself, the programme features choreographies by Dario Tortorelli and Loïc Perela.
The Netherlands has added a new award for young choreographic talent. The BNG Culture Fund, in collaboration with Korzo in The Hague, has established the BNG Bank Excellent Talent Dance Award
De bezuinigingen op kunst zijn voor veel mensen aanleiding geweest te benadrukken dat kunst maatschappelijk en politiek relevant moet zijn. Voor Samuel Wuersten, artistiek directeur van het Holland Dance Festival, is maatschappelijke en politieke relevantie een breed begrip.
Even before she graduated from mime school, Boukje Schweigman swore off language. She worked out a wordless philosophy in her performances. She seeks the mystery of life. However vast and elusive her starting points may be, her performances give the audience the most direct, immediate, skin-tight sensation imaginable in a theatre.
"I have no theatre background, but I know what I like." These words from Cammy Mai Tran are typical of a trend among young theatre-makers. They find the walls between different art disciplines to be oppressive. Increasingly, we see them walking right through those walls. And when the blow is over, new inspiration swirls richly over them.
Young choreographers Cecilia Moisio, Giulio d'Anna and Melissa Ellberger have been nominated for the Prize of the Nederlandse Dansdagen Maastricht 2013.
A man and a woman dance passionately in the hall of Paradiso. Such an experimental dance performance is unusual for the Amsterdam pop palace. Yet the festival I Like To Watch Too right here. Many people feel a barrier towards this kind of performance, but here there is just the right 'in and out' atmosphere to make avant-garde art something you can just look at and that always triggers something in you.
Isn't avant garde dance too lofty? Is it still viable in these harsh cultural times? I Like To Watch Too aims to clear up this misunderstanding. The festival brings experimental dance closer to the public than ever.
In minuut 1 van CRACKz (Dança Morta) is het al raak. De dansers van Grupo de Rua de Niterói wervelen steunend op één hand door Zuiveringshal West van de Westergasfabriek. De ruimte lijkt voor deze voorstelling gemaakt.
Holland Festival
Circus, tricks, clownery, spectacle: it has been a party for centuries. But roughly the same party every time.
Zimmermann & De Perrot, originally clown and DJ respectively, found each other in the brilliant insight that circus could be turned into beautifully absurd modern theatre.
'That men and women in the Islamic world live apart from each other, that is a big frustration,' says choreographer Abou Lagraa. 'That is what El Djoudour is about.'
Because of his background, Abou Lagraa has a special, enlightening perspective on these issues.
Holland Festival
,,Het bijzondere aan Quartett is dat een intiem verhaal tussen twee personen tot indrukwekkende afmetingen opgeblazen wordt. De personages bevinden zich in een kamer, die lijkt te zweven. In deze beslotenheid speelt zich een geïsoleerd spel tussen een man en een vrouw af. Gigantische videoprojecties
Holland Festival
Holland Festival ,,I like to use the word 'Gesamtkunstwerk'. Light, space, matter, body, sound: it all belongs together. Each aspect forms an essential part of the whole."
Choreographer Nicole Beutler prepares with pianist Tomoko Mukaiyama and
Rokia Traoré, Dieudonné Niangouna, Brett Bailey, Compagnie La Baraka van choreograaf Abou Lagraa, El Gusto met Kashba Blues: er is veel Afrika in het Holland Festival 2013. Voorstellingen die
,,Je zou denken: de vrouw is geëmancipeerd. Maar men verlangt weer naar de clichés en vooroordelen over de vrouw uit de jaren vijftig. Als je je supervrouwelijk kleedt, word je nagefloten als een hond. Maar hoe moet
Dans en muziek horen bij elkaar. Toch is er in deze combinatie altijd wel weer wat nieuws te ontdekken. De Amsterdamse Cello Biënnale nodigde dansgroep LeineRoebana uit om met cellist Jakob Koranyi en CvA Percussion een dans- en muziekvoorstelling te maken op muziek van componist Tan Dun: ‘Snow in June’. LeineRoebana heeft de laatste jaren als geen andere groep laten zien hoe verrijkend onconventionele combinaties tussen dans en muziek kunnen zijn.
PUNCH! is a fantastic festival. It shows how much beauty, news and surprise is created when the line between dance and performance is dissolved. PUNCH! promotes a refreshing view of the world and shakes loose entrenched interpretations. The young dance makers and performers show tremendous originality and creativity that you will not only enjoy watching, you will go...
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