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ACTUAL

All about politics, policy, society and how those things relate to culture and art.

Photo: Monique van de Wijdeven

The 10 theatre performances you actually wanted to see in 2014, even if you had to leave Amsterdam for half of them

It's raining annual lists and we're merrily joining in. As subjective as anyone, after all, no one sees everything, and opinions on taste can always differ. Of course, also in this list many performances in or from the Randstad, but half of them were not yet shown there. And all genres mixed together. As long as it is theatre. With the only limitation: no repeats, apologies Ring and Lohengrin (DNO), St John Passion (NRO). And no dance, because for that our partner dance audience. 

Read More "The 10 theatre performances you actually wanted to see in 2014, even if you had to leave Amsterdam for half of them

Director Wolfson bids farewell to Film Festival Rotterdam - three puzzles in advance for successor

Today, the International Film Festival Rotterdam announced that director Rutger Wolfson is handing over the baton after the 2015 edition. About his decision, Wolfson says in the press release: "Eight years is a long time to lead an important film festival and with the 44th edition, which is going to be very strong, I have achieved everything I wanted to achieve. Together with my family, I have... 

Read More "Director Wolfson bids farewell to Film Festival Rotterdam - three puzzles in advance for successor

Cocker's secret: booze and total absence of irony

'With a little help form my friends' may be his biggest hit. My eternal favourite Joe Cocker song is and remains The Letter. Not Cocker's vocal acrobatics here, turning the rather side-splitting Beatles song into a screaming victim's plea. In The Letter, the man who did mostly brilliant covers actually changes bitterly little to... 

Read More "Cocker's secret: booze and total absence of irony

They are going to pay. Cable operators on their knees for screenwriters

Tonight many drunk screenwriters on the streets, and in Leiden a few very happy older journalists. Lira, the organisation that has to collect money for them from the big, wealthy, and non-paying guys, has won twice. They already had, of course, but the cable companies didn't want to get rid of the gold plating on their luxury yachts. So they ignored the judge's ruling and... 

Read More "They are going to pay. Cable operators on their knees for screenwriters

At last: National Theatre examines 'German Model'

Good going, over there in The Hague. After the company announced earlier this week that it would take a young creator into its artistic leadership before his death, today follows the announcement that Het Nationale Toneel wants to merge with the Koninklijke Schouwburg. This would mean that, for the first time in a long time in the Netherlands, the performer of a city theatre would again be... 

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Farce around The Interview turns into thriller - Sony succumbs to threat from unknown source

It gets crazier and crazier with The Interview, the US comedy in which the CIA wants to implicate two television journalists in an assassination attempt against the leader of North Korea.

You could almost say that film has once again been overtaken by reality.

Read More "Farce around The Interview turns into thriller - Sony succumbs to threat from unknown source

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Brian Eno during rehearsals for Golden Hours, 12 December 2014, photo © Anne Van Aerschot

Rosas away from Brussels? The political game has begun.

Choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker sends out an alarming press release. Following the decision by the Brussels theatre De Munt/La Monnaie to stop programming dance, she wonders whether Rosas is still welcome in Brussels. "The news that the management of La Monnaie is scrapping all dance fills me with disbelief. Historically, ... 

Read More "Rosas away from Brussels? The political game has begun.

Should Halbe Zijlstra apologise only to Overijssel?

Ten per cent fewer performances and ten per cent fewer visitors in Overijssel headlines RTV Oost. Bam! That chops it. Into the bin, that jubilant press release by Jet Bussemaker. And if there is one province that does not need to apologise to Halbe Zijlstra, it is Overijssel. Well, we reported earlier that apologies are not necessary anyway, but as a province... 

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Amsterdam art is doing great. Unless you are a (young) artist.

Two corpses. Despairing bystanders. A blood-red photo. The cover of the Exploration, released by the Amsterdam Arts Council, makes one fear the worst. A massacre has been committed. Even if it is a scenic photo of a performance by Toneelgroep Amsterdam. Or is it all different? Are only two dead, and the rest live on? Something about shows that on must go?.... 

Read More "Amsterdam art is doing great. Unless you are a (young) artist.

Questions, stillness and resistance: choreographer Nicole Beutler's new Echo and earlier work on tour in the Netherlands

5:Echo, choreographer Nicole Beutler's most recent production, is a curious show. All focus is on two famous pioneers of Dutch dance in the 60s and 70s: Ellen Edinoff and Bianca van Dillen. Yet Echo mainly shows how impossible (and perhaps undesirable) it is to want to revive past glories. Dancer Kelly ... 

Read More "Questions, stillness and resistance: choreographer Nicole Beutler's new Echo and earlier work on tour in the Netherlands

The Hague takes the lead in rejuvenating theatre landscape: De Vroedt not going to Rotterdam

Eric de Vroedt will succeed Theu Boermans at the Nationale Toneel in The Hague in 2018. The company announced this in a press release today. This puts an end to speculation surrounding the future of theatre-maker De Vroedt. Indeed, he had long been mentioned as Alize Zandwijk's successor at the ro Theater in Rotterdam,... 

Read More "The Hague takes the lead in rejuvenating theatre landscape: De Vroedt not going to Rotterdam

The myth of cultural entrepreneurship: 6 reasons why it's not about money

Since the cuts, it has become a bitter necessity for many, cultural entrepreneurship. But what exactly that is, nobody knows at all. Even the government actually has no idea when talking about it. But, the government asks, so there must be an answer. In recent years, the Dutch art world has been flooded with self-proclaimed experience experts on cultural entrepreneurship.... 

Read More "The myth of cultural entrepreneurship: 6 reasons why it's not about money

Open, flexible and on top of everything: 9 expected and unexpected tasks for the theatre of the future

What does the theatre of the future look like? That question Odeon De Spiegel Theatres posed to the FMT Workforce, the online brainstorming environment of our partner Fast Moving Targets. We also brought the message here. Odeon and De Spiegel are two theatres in Zwolle. Well-run theatres, but always looking for the new opportunities offered by new technologies and developments.... 

Read More "Open, flexible and on top of everything: 9 expected and unexpected tasks for the theatre of the future

La Bronkhorst and very young Van Noten dance Ende der Zukunft: bold initiative with ditto outcome

Danseres en choreografe Truus Bronkhorst instigeerde een samenwerking tussen het Antwerpse Kunst/Werk en het Tilburgse T.R.A.S.H. Het dubbelprogramma en duet combineert choreografiën van Marc Vanrunxt en Kristel van Issum. Ende der Zukunft is een wonderbaarlijke enscenering van gapende kloven geworden: van tijd van leven, van artistieke ervaring, maar vooral ook van artistieke opvatting. Intergenerationaliteit (oui, c’est un mot) betreft verhoudingen die… 

Read More "La Bronkhorst and very young Van Noten dance Ende der Zukunft: bold initiative with ditto outcome

Bird twittering instead of revenge

Saturday 6 December sees the start of the first edition of Music Theatre Days, the successor to the annual Babel Festival. To present the work of young makers, the Ostadetheatre and production core Diamantfabriek joined forces again, for a programme that offers flash performances by conservatory students alongside world premieres by professional makers. Splendor's monthly Salon also takes place at the Ostadetheatre. Red thread... 

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Precisely the 'worst' speakers made TEDX Amsterdam a party

The Speech Doctor reviews: The 3 Anti-Speakers of TEDX Amsterdam 2014: Duncan Stutterheim, Ton van Oostwaard and Henk Schiffmacher. What is TEdx Amsterdam? On Friday 27 November 2014, the Netherlands' most famous TEDx, TEDx Amsterdam took place again at the Stadsschouwburg theatre. TED is a global organisation where people of name and fame (or before name and fame) show up to present their 'ideas... 

Read More "Precisely the 'worst' speakers made TEDX Amsterdam a party

Fifa executive turns out to be art expert

That it smells a bit like rotten fish in the Fifa offices is well enough known. The men's club of upstart youth team managers has refined its own revenue model considerably. So now it appears it is no longer just about beautiful women, cocaine, money and other things you put in brown envelopes, but about art. And then it gets interesting. According to a further... 

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logo Netherlands Association for Performing Arts

Reason 6 for no apology to Halbe: 'Premature, tendentious and damaging to the sector'

The distinguished part of the arts sector is also reacting furiously to the VVD's statements, chronicled by De Telegraaf this morning. This brings the number of reasons for the sector not to apologise to Halbe Zijlstra to six. Whereas we previously gave five reasons, the Dutch Association of Performing Arts now also declares that we are only in the course... 

Read More "Reason 6 for no apology to Halbe: 'Premature, tendentious and damaging to the sector'

A dress made from a mop. Chris Nauta breaks through with recycle fashion

Chris Nauta breaks through. The Amersfoort-based artist makes new clothes from old blankets, tents and other unlikely materials. She was prominent at Oerol and can count stars including Gregory Porter among her fans. 'My customers get a unique piece of art and reduce waste.' Chris Nauta is Central Netherlands' recycling artist. She makes winter coats from used blankets, brightly coloured bags from... 

Read More "A dress made from a mop. Chris Nauta breaks through with recycle fashion

In advance, 5 reasons why no one needs to apologise to Halbe Zijlstra.

According to the VVD, all artists and art lovers in the Netherlands should say 'sorry' to Halbe Zijlstra. Because they were so angry with him when he abolished 30 per cent of art subsidies without any underlying idea. After all, according to the Ministry of Culture, things were going fan-tas-tically with the arts in the Netherlands. Anyone who reads the press release the ministry issued yesterday on that... 

Read More "In advance, 5 reasons why no one needs to apologise to Halbe Zijlstra.
Glass pendant in the shape of a face (4th-3rd century BC)

By the way, that city did not need to be destroyed at all: 7 myths about Carthage debunked in Leiden

The bad news is: most myths about Carthage are nonsense. The good news is, the reality is at least as fascinating. Until 10 May 2015, the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (RMO) in Leiden is showing the multifaceted history of a port city in present-day Tunisia, and once formidable rival of the Roman Empire. It simultaneously offers a glimpse... 

Read More "By the way, that city did not need to be destroyed at all: 7 myths about Carthage debunked in Leiden

Camerata Trajectina 40 years young

In a sold-out Geertekerk in Utrecht, Camerata Trajectina exuberantly celebrated its fortieth anniversary yesterday. In those four decades, the ensemble has worked tirelessly to put the Dutch song repertoire from the Middle Ages to the Golden Age on the map, not only on stages, but also on sound carriers. Entirely in style, attendees were treated to a varied... 

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Thumbs up for Morgan Knibbe - Those Who Feel the Fire Burning nominated at IDFA

Dat doet Morgan Knibbe helemaal niet slecht. Twee jaar geleden afgestudeerd aan de Filmacademie, nu op IDFA al op gelijke voet met ’s werelds beste documentairemakers. Those Who Feel the Fire Burning is zijn onconventionele verbeelding van de wereld van vluchtelingen die de oversteek naar Europa waagden. Nu genomineerd voor de hoofdprijs van IDFA, de prijs voor beste lange documentaire. Het… 

Read More "Thumbs up for Morgan Knibbe - Those Who Feel the Fire Burning nominated at IDFA

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