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PODIUM ART

Anything for which people enter a stage.

Sigur Ros - © Hörður Óttarsson

Sigur Rós overwhelms Concertgebouw with multi-layered magic music - HF23

The picture is immediate. Vast glaciated vistas, patches of fog and the twilight of a land where the sun rises only once a year. Something like that. And then that soaring music that in one long tone makes all air traffic redundant for at least a month. Beneath it the rumble of shifting earth plates. For the first time in 10 years, Sigur Rós made another... 

Ivo van Hove in 2020. Photo by Jan Versweyveld

IVO VAN HOVE STEPS DOWN AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ITA

Even though they are not yet members at ITA, let me pass on this press release. Because of its (inter)national importance. Coming: Ivo van Hove (1958) will end his role as artistic director of ITA on 1 September 2023. This means that he will then hand over his position as statutory director and artistic director. The Supervisory Board (BoS) intends to appoint Eline... 

Pankaj Tiwari, an artist from the poorest part of India, and Polish performer Maria Magdalena Kozłowska. Photo: Eva Roefs

Sustainability is a luxury issue in Jerome Bel's airplane-less autobiography (and the show turns out to be more fun than I first thought)

Input from members: that's what drives this club. Just watch. Yesterday I wrote this piece: Jerome Bel is quite something. The man who identifies himself as a choreographer has banned himself from flying for sustainability reasons, which is why he could not come to Amsterdam from Paris to read his own autobiography. However noble the non-flying... 

ensemble Wuthering Heights. Photo: Steve Tanner

Glossy role for the bog in unprecedentedly perfect update of Wuthering Heights at Holland Festival

I can't resist mentioning it, because I think they were doing it for a reason, the dancers in the musical Wuthering Heights making really visible big rounds with their arms one time: this was a half-second reference to Kate Bush's world-changing 'windmill swings' in the music video to her legendary 1978 pop song. A subtle nod as in my... 

Laurie anderson by Ebru Yildiz

Deep poignancy and plenty of humour with Laurie Anderson at Holland Festival

Laurie Anderson visited the Holland Festival for a third time and played to a sold-out Carré. With a five-piece Sexmob, a jazz combo from New York for the occasion, she performed well-known and lesser-known songs from her oeuvre spanning more than four decades. And every song felt like it was dear to her, with fresh, new arrangements of double bass and baritone ... 

ANGELA (a strange loop) 4 © Julian Röder

Susanne Kennedy's 'Angela - a strange loop at the Holland Festival: no new insights, rather clichés

Well, Angela... this 'posthuman' play by German-British director Susanne Kennedy, now at the Holland Festival, aims to touch on many things: life & death, time & space, truth & fake. The play begins with a text running across the walls announcing that everything in this story is real, based on diaries and facts. Soon after, this statement becomes... 

Brainwash Festival / Joy Hansson

Full houses for Catholic culture by Nick Cave and Herman Finkers

Christian cultural traditions, such as Catholicism, are in the doldrums. How do they get out? Whatever you call backgrounds in terms of gender, origin and beliefs, looking at them all positively helps, with compassion and humour; how beautiful and funny are all these different people and expressions! So I am now happy to write about two people who climbed the cultural ladder, and just... 

PR image This is ours by Alum

Reinout Bussemaker portrays the controversial J.P. Coen in new Alum performance "This is Ours"

Utrecht - Actor Reinout Bussemaker will portray the role of J.P. Coen in theatre group Aluin's new proposition "Dit is van Ons" from December. This zeitgeist comedy takes a critical look at the legacy of J.P. Coen, a historical figure that evokes both admiration and condemnation. Reinout Bussemaker is known for several television (The 12 of Oldenheim, The Prey,... 

Summer concerts New Notes Amsterdam in Plein Theatre

This summer, Plein Theater and Nieuwe Noten Amsterdam present three contemporary music concerts, and after the summer, again monthly on Sunday afternoons! On the weekend of 17 and 18 June, the concerts are part of New Music NOW's Day of the Composer. NEW NOTES AMSTERDAM New Notes Amsterdam provides a stage for contemporary chamber music. New compositions and leading musicians, in... 

PR image The Utility Holiday Show

The NUT and Stadsschouwburg Utrecht present: The Holiday Show Theatre, game show and dinner full of glitter, glamour and prizes. 

On Thursday 26 October 2023, De Holidayshow will premiere, the autumn spectacle of the NUT in collaboration with the Stadschouwburg Utrecht. Ticket sales started on Sunday 4 June through the theatre's website. The show will play every Thursday to Sunday for a month at a yet undisclosed location in Utrecht. Directed by Ellen Goemans, text and acting by Joep Hendrikx, Floor... 

scene photo by Camilla Adams

'Drive Your Plough...' - Masterful narrative theatre by Simon McBurney is a lesson for every viewer #HF23

A word says more than a thousand images. This may seem strange in a world that thrives on visual culture, but it is a truism. If you have yet to see cows of all shapes and sizes, let the Holland Festival convince you. Yesterday, I saw the opening performance 'Drive Your Plough Over The Bones Of The Dead' and... 

ANGELA (a strange loop) 1 © Julian Röder

In Susanne Kennedy's Angela, you have a say as a spectator. #hf23

Not much happens in Angela (A Strange Loop) by Susanne Kennedy. That is not a bad thing; there is more art in which little happens. Beckett, for instance, was a master of it. Just as he caused confusion in the 1950s with pieces like Waiting for Godot, viewers and critics alike get a bit thrown off by Susanne... 

Hamlet Ophelia by Sanne Peper

Heady 'Hamlet and Ophelia' about Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious

I saw Sid Vicious perform with the Sex Pistols at the illustrious Eksit in Rotterdam in 1977, more than 45 years later my teenage daughter toured Vicious's story in International Toneel Amsterdam's performance Hamlet and Ophelia. She still has a life to go, I immersed myself in memories. A (too long) look back According to the annals... 

Marmoucha' s summer calendar for May, June and July 2023!

Discover the enchanting world of Marmoucha. Immerse yourself in an intriguing documentary about three Andalusians, get enthralled by authentic Gnawa music and experience stunning modern orchestral arrangements. Experience an immersive musical theatre performance for children (8+) and be enchanted by the unforgettable Moroccan-Andalusian repertoire. Friday 26 May, Friday 2 June and Saturday 3 June Documentary "Children of Al-Andalus" 

cover report Shadow Dancing

Border crossing in the dance world: excellent research leaves out elephant in the room

Dancing, from super amateur to world-class professional, involves boundary crossing, abuse of power, physical assaults and sexual misconduct perpetuated by a stubborn culture of silence. The long-awaited investigation by Marjan Olfers, 'Shadow Dancing', into boundary crossing in the dance world, had even more shocking results than anyone feared beforehand. The figures are now well enough known: a majority of dancers have shown transgressive behaviour to... 

vake poes; or how god disappeared, lisaboa houbrechts Photo by Kurt van der Elst

Vake Poes by Lisaboa Houbrechts at the Holland Festival: in search of beauty in a very dark story

'Sometimes people come to me crying to tell their stories, things they have experienced.' Theatre-maker, author, director Lisaboa Houbrechts has stirred things up with Vake Poes, the theatrical family epic she created with the Flemish company La Geste. The intense performance, in its lyricism fitting into the oeuvre of Alain Platel's Les Ballets C de la B... 

image by Prophetiques by David Kadoule

Dancing into the night - Prophétique (on est déjà né-es) by Nadia Beugré splashes off the stage.

Sometimes the run-in to a performance is so pleasant that you hope everyone will continue to drone on for a bit. Make it last longer! It feels like you're at a rehearsal, or a private party, at a private event, where you can peek in. That is certainly the case with Prophétique (on est déjà né-es) by Nadia Beugré, which... 

Scene image Bacchae by Alex Kat

The Bacchae at the Holland Festival: Nietzsche, rock-hard beats and beautiful operatic voices in a wild plea for queerness.

'Simplicity is the problem of our time. Simplicity is labelling. It should be about fluidity and confusion.' Greek opera-maker Elli Papakonstantinou, whose star has risen rapidly in recent years, is performing a contemporary version of Euripides' classic tragedy 'Bacchantes' at this year's Holland Festival. In that 405 BC play, wine god Dionysus (also known... 

Dox campaign image

National DOX Club auditions: we go for talent!

June 2023 marks the annual DOX auditions for young people aged 16 - 26 who want to further develop as a performer in the fields of dance, theatre, music, film and/or spoken word? At the DOX Club, you can spend a season exploring, creating and learning with various creators of the moment. Whether you have completed preliminary training or... 

Flyer Storytelling festival

Theatre Kikker together with Utrecht partners presents the best stories from the city

Tell! Storytelling festival opens your gaze to the world around you. In collaboration with Het Verhalenhuis and De Vertelacademie, Theater Kikker presents a unique fusion of stories, music, culinary bites, an inspiring exhibition and much more on Saturday 13 May. On this day, you will listen to the stories our city has to offer. Come to Tell! and get to know... 

orchestra playing in a dutch modern neighbourhood, plain clothes, civil servants looking on

IN PERSPECTIVE 16: The Giro d 'Italia and how the Promenade Orchestra lost.

In the series In Perspective, Erik Akkermans looks back and ahead at developments in cultural policy and practice. Today: walk of the orchestras. In the Hall of Mirrors January 1980, the Hall of Mirrors in the Concertgebouw. Culture minister Til Gardeniers accepts the report "Possession in service" 1 presented by the Federation of Artists' Associations. I found it exciting because the report, commissioned by... 

Ernestine Stoop - image provided by Asko|Schönberg

Stairway to Music - Scala for Ernestine - Saturday 27 May

Stairway to Music, a programme by Asko|Schönberg and the Muziekgebouw, is an intimate listening experience of about 45 minutes on the steps of the Muziekgebouw. This time the program also has a personal touch. Harpist Ernestine Stoop says goodbye to Asko|Schönberg after more than 40 years and has put together a concert in which she condenses her time with Asko|Schönberg... 

BROS © Jean-Michel Blasco

WANTED: 23 male players for BROS

The Holland Festival is looking for 23 male actors for the production Bros. An excellent opportunity for those who want to work with renowned director Romeo Castellucci and experience a performance behind and on the stage of the Rabozaal in ITA. Bros is a large-scale production that leaves a big impression. Who are we looking for? We are looking for a diverse group of men aged 18 to 65, with a height between... 

Scene from Bros, photo by Luca del Pia

'Bros', Romeo Castellucci's theatrical liturgy of violence by men in uniform. To be seen in the Holland Festival

About 30 men in American police uniforms on stage, the kind we know from TV. But in Romeo Castellucci's show Bros, to be seen at the Holland Festival in June, you don't get to see chases and interrogations, but brutal violence. The show is about the anonymity offered by a uniform, in this case especially... 

Writer Nhung Dam is increasingly embracing her Vietnamese roots. 'My background is also a gift.'

Writer and theatre-maker Nhung Dam (38) tried to be as Dutch as possible, but is increasingly embracing her Vietnamese roots. Because these are precisely what make her unique, she now realises, and offer a wealth of stories. Including for her second novel, Definition of Love. Two worlds Nhung Dam (38) more or less grew up in two worlds. Her cradle was in... 

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