Skip to content

Ruben Brugman

writing ex-dancer

Kylian

Kylián Festival. 8 ways to stay on top as a choreographer

Jiří Kylián is not at the Holland Festival. He has his own festival. The small Korzo theatre hosted ten days of intimate works by the great choreographer. Varied and still impressive. Next year, Kylián will have been a choreographer for 45 years. How do you keep performing at the world's top for so long? 

hardwell

Surfer dances against AIDS and now celebrates at The Concertgebouw

A surfing Dutch marketing guy noticed in South Africa that a disease was thinning the population indiscriminately. That made him care. Now, as an undisputed highlight, dance4life is celebrating its tenth anniversary at The Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

To get the top of the world involved in dance4life within 3 years and raise awareness for AIDS and HIV through dance and music. That was the mission of dance4life founders Dennis Karper (jeans brand marketer) and Ilco van der Linden (founder Bevrijdingspop)....

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

OFFline - OFFprojects-photo MIlenaTwiehaus

5 ways to renew dance in 1 performance. Go OFFline in Korzo

As a museum, if you want to participate a little, you have to lead the audience through the presentation interactively. You should be able to do the same with dance, choreographer Amos Ben-Tal must have thought with his project OFFline. He shows 5 ways. In a performance.

1. start differently
The much-used formula of 'sit in your chair and watch a performance' is immediately jettisoned at OFFline by dance collective OFFPROJECTS. At first, you walk through various spaces of the Korzo theatre and get to work ...

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Ballet gala Dancers' Fund '79 photo Antoinette Mooy

6 Tips for a successful gala. (Ballet gala of the Dancers' Fund '79)

A gala should be festive. So the Ballet Gala of the Dancers' Fund '79 Foundation was festive. On Monday 20 January 2014, the fund's 17th gala took place at the DeLaMar theatre in Amsterdam, Joop van den Ende's glamorous ballroom.

A few tips for a successful gala.

1: Know who is giving you an award
The fund set up by Han Ebbelaar and Alexandra Radius thirty-five years ago is doing a huge service to the dance world. Almost every Dutch talent can be on...

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Red, Yellow and Blue (photo: Bob Karman)

Isabelle Beernaert is successful. Four reasons why it's not just down to SYTYCD.

The dance industry is not doing very well at all, people say. I spoke to a dance marketer who told me that venues are often only a quarter full. And that includes dance makers who have a  Oscar for dance have won. What does attract a lot of audiences are fairy tales. And Isabelle Beernaert.

What explains the success of this Belgian choreographer?

Young Talent Performance (Fugaz Floor)

Talent development new buzzword in dance world: 3 encouraging initiatives

The fact that it is difficult to get a job after graduation is also well known in the dance world. Therefore, partly at the government's insistence, companies are focusing on talent development. They also hope for a better connection with schools. Young dancers are now more likely to be on the front line of ballet: the theatre, and that is good news for audiences. Because the energy is fresh and the level has advanced considerably.

Whether a better connection between school and company is really going to solve all the problems is no...

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Bonnie Doets (photo: Antoinette Mooy)

Modern dance wins prizes at Dutch Dance Days

During the 16th edition of the Dutch Dance Days, several dance awards were presented: the 2013 Dutch Dance Days Prize, the Swans and the Dioraphte Dance Award. Respective winners are choreographer Giulio D'Anna, dancer Medhi Walerski, Club Guy & Roni for Midnight Rising, dancer Bonnie Doets of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam and Keren Levi with The Dry Piece.

This year's presentation of the Swans was broadcast live by NTR Podium. In a former industrial workshop in Maast...

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Dutch National Ballet - First soloists - photo Erwin Olaf

Reality The Dutch National Ballet in AVRO's Blood, Sweat and Blisters

The Dutch National Ballet is not sitting still. Building on its 50th anniversary, next spring AVRO will publish a reality series about the country's largest dance company. This as a sequel to Blood, sweat, and strings about the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
It is the people who work at the Dutch National Ballet who are key to the company's success, which has lasted for decades. These are, of course, the dancers, but also, for example, the artistic staff, the press department as well as the people from the costume department,...

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

The Red Piece - photo by Maarten Vanden Abeele

Oppressive (audience) manipulation in The Red Piece

'Don't let anyone leave the room without having experienced or felt something.' That is surely and surely the mission with Flemish Ann Van den Broek's work. If the mood swings in The Red Piece don't do much to you, your retinas will burn out from the changes in lighting design. You might just think you are being manipulated as an audience. But you gladly allow it.

Armando Navarro (1930-2013): Scapino Ballet for more than just children

Armando Navarro (Argentina, 1930 - Amsterdam 2013), former artistic director of Scapino Ballet, passed away last Sunday. Together with his wife Marian Sarstädt formed Navarro one of the Netherlands' best-known dance couples, alongside Han Ebbelaar and Alexandra Radius (Het Nationale Ballet) and Jiří Kylián and Sabine Kupferberg (Nederlands Dans Theater).

ellen edinoff

Dance pioneer Ellen Edinoff matured the dance world

Dancer Ellen Edinoff died in her hometown of Amsterdam on Tuesday at the age of 70. Together with her husband Koert Stuyf, Ellen formed a unique dance couple in the 1960s-'70s that evoked reactions in extremes. Thanks in part to them, the Dutch dance world came of age. Ellen battled her illness for the last three years. She was still able to make a comeback on stage in 2012.

American Ellen Edinoff met Koert Stuyf in New York. They settled in the Netherlands where they worked on...

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Departure of business leader Nederlands Dans Theater Van Leer for personal reasons

On the day that a vote was to be held in The Hague on the new Spui Forum, it has been announced that Robert van Leer is leaving as business director of Nederlands Dans Theater. Van Leer is resigning for purely "personal reasons", according to the press officer of the renowned dance company.

The French are coming, but are these choreographers that good?

France, the birthplace of ballet, produces top choreographers by the continuous stream. At least six of them will soon come to the Netherlands: Angelin Preljocaj, Benjamin Millepied, Abou Lagraa, Boris Charmatz, Laurent Chétouane and Olivier Dubois. The ballet world, the Netherlands included, greedily gobbles up any choreographer who gives the impression of becoming or being a masterful dance innovator.

Supply and demand
Having to deliver consistent quality as a choreographer is a 'crime' . It ...

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

NDT opens door to future without Kylián with 'School of Thought'

Programme V is NDT1's last programme this season. It seems to be a final chord in more ways than one.

On the premiere day, an official announcement went out that choreographer and former artistic director Jirí Kylián is washing his hands of NDT after 36 years of involvement. Furthermore, from September 2014 to 2017, no work by Kylián will be seen at NDT. (The new Spui Forum is planned for 2018: a home for NDT, among others.) Those eager for deeper meaning...

You can now log in to continue reading!

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!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Chamber - Medhi Walerski

NDT in motion: on stage, the silver screen and behind it

Being active on social media like Facebook or Twitter is now a must for any dance company. But broadcasting a dance performance (live) via 600 cinemas worldwide is no mean feat either. NDT (The Hague) has been chosen by Pathé theatres to join the illustrious list of The Metropolitan Opera (New York), The National Theatre (London) and the Bolshoi Ballet (Moscow) as a partner in high-level performing arts.

Odedra engages wide audience in Indian dance

Emerging British-Indian dance idol Aakash Odedra manages to hook top choreographers with the programme Rising. The dance diptych premiered in London earlier this year and was shown at the India Dance Festival at Korzo dance theatre in The Hague on 14 October 2012. Rising consists of four solos danced by Aakash Odedra himself. In the first choreographed Nritta (A. Odedra), the young dance prince starts inconspicuously with... 

The Second Detail

Shock and awe ballet in Bill & Mr. B overflows with quality on all sides; there is no stalling

In the production Bill & Mr B, the Dutch National Ballet dives thematically into history with reprises of works by George Balanchine and William Forsythe. Balanchine's Symphony in Three Movements (1972) is considered the breeding ground for Forsythe, who then went 'the extra mile' with Steptext (1985) and The Second Detail (1991). From protocol to photocall: dance as a photo session. Movement - click,... 

No-nonsense audience does not care for tour de force of anti-pale dance in Révolution

Eleven poles are atmospherically lit like a nightclub. Dancers enter and make their way to their work stations. They will walk around their poles in a two-hour shift. They are not the only ones: audience members also start walking, towards the exit. Yet the dizzying repetitions of the hard-working ladies are effective. However, the transcendental minimalism will turn into a... 

Enfant terrible Boris Charmatz puts finger on sore spot with confrontational choreography about the elusive child

 With enfant, choreographer Boris Charmatz broaches a difficult topic: how do we as adults deal with ourselves, and how do we deal with children? Charmatz draws on the French philosopher Lyotard, who pondered the "inhumanity" of adults and saw real people in children. The current image about physical contact with children is distorted and it is... 

Rare and exceptional performance "Lang" by Kat Válastur knocks you out with wonder and sucks you into maelstrom

Kat Válastur claimed that it is almost impossible to describe the dynamics of her performance with words. She is right. It is rare skill how with only two dancers in one place, so much can be depicted and the audience is sucked into a maelstrom. photo: Nysos Vasilopoulos In the small auditorium of Theatre Kikker, mechanical thuds sound and two giants appear in the middle of the stage.... 

Private Membership (month)
5 / Maand
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
No annoying banners
A special newsletter
Own mastodon account
Access to our archives
Small Membership (month)
18 / Maand
For cultural institutions with a turnover/subsidy of less than €250,000 per year
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
All our podcasts
Your own Mastodon account
Access to archives
Posting press releases yourself
Extra attention in news coverage
Large Membership (month)
36 / Maand
For cultural institutions with a turnover/subsidy of more than €250,000 per year.
No annoying banners
A special newsletter
Your own Mastodon account
Access to archives
Share press releases with our audience
Extra attention in news coverage
Premium Newsletter (substack)
5 trial subscriptions
All our podcasts

Payments are made via iDeal, Paypal, Credit Card, Bancontact or Direct Debit. If you prefer to pay manually, based on an invoice in advance, we charge a 10€ administration fee

*Only for annual membership or after 12 monthly payments

en_GBEnglish (UK)