Anything for which people enter a stage.
We Had Love, We Had Guns by Christine Otten is about black resistance fighter Robert F. Williams, who fought for black equality. In the theatre adaptation of the same name, white actors - including Huub van der Lubbe - play black characters and vice versa. Double talk about personal sacrifice, skin colour and connection. Idlewild It is a remarkable coincidence. America is taking...
Five art experiences will always stick to this bizarre year for me. And one thing really scared me. Whether the worst is now behind us? At least the most extraordinary is still on view until 5 February 2017. A chronological overview of what was unbelievable, unthinkable, inconceivable, unbelievable and perhaps untrue. Much of it, by the way, will be in 2017...
In contemporary dance, artistic leaders are often in place for decades, at least in the Netherlands. This week, Leo Spreksel announced his departure from Korzo, as of September 2017. After 29 years, the director and programmer of dance at the theatre and production house in The Hague is calling it a day, because "in the Netherlands, commercialisation pushes away the voice of artists: procedures and formats are...
Chris Keulemans visited the 5D InHuis Festival and was deeply impressed by what people with disabilities managed to achieve in theatre. Here is his report, for under the Christmas tree. About humour without pity, and totally unexpected displays of muscle. - Was Thomas born that way? - Well, I don't think he cut his legs himself... The jokers...
On 20 December, the general membership meeting of Coöperatief Cultureel Persbureau unanimously decided to accept a cooperation offer from The Co-operative/House of Journalism and Reporters Online. This is an important step in the development of independent cultural journalism. Culture Press, as the Cooperative Cultural Press Agency is known on the internet and social media, is growing significantly as a result. The...
Nine-year-old Amira Willighagen was when she won the TV talent show 'Holland's got talent' in 2013 with opera arias. Her Puccini aria 'O mio babbino caro' still attracts millions of viewers on YouTube. What makes Amira so immensely popular? Is it her singing skills or is it her adorable childlike appearance? In Huizen, a village in the Gooi region, she gave a concert with...
Each month, in the (Un)heard series, I present extraordinary sound that does not go unnoticed and unsung. In this December edition: Brume, Cinema Perdu, Emanuele de Raymondi, Mark Fell, Zeno van den Broek and James O'Callaghan. Like a vise around the neck Brume - Mother Blast (LP, Grautag) Nicolas Moulin's Grautag label guarantees dystopian soundscapes. Those landscapes the label presents...
Austrian bass Günther Groissböck received the biggest applause in Parsifal on Thursday 15 December, for his role as Gurnemanz. A close second was Russian soprano Elena Pankratova. She signed for the vocal part of Kundry, who took shape on stage in the person of assistant director Astrid van den Akker. However, judging by the deafening cheers, the audience was the...
Het Veem is a small but important theatre and unofficial production house overlooking the Houthavens in Amsterdam. The house has long been home to internationally operating contemporary performing arts. A place where the artist and his or her experimental work are still central. Since Anne Breure became director in 2014, it bears the addition House of Performance. With...
You instinctively flee from death, but in 'Have I been here before' choreographer Marie Goeminne actually brings death close. Not threatening, but close to your skin and hand in hand with life. She shows death and life in an intimate entanglement. Three dancers merge in a stream, concentrated and vulnerable, in which life arises,...
Amsterdam's oldest and perhaps most beautiful building combines quite a few functions. Although tourists are dominant these days, believers still celebrate the love of God there every week. And even though the former Nicolaaskerk no longer provides space for fishermen to mend their nets, organ concerts are still given there, since the fourteenth century. Handing out bread is not...
Despite the crisis in the performing arts, there is still a lot of young talent roaming the Netherlands and beyond. So much that keeping track is impossible. After all, who can visit all the festivals, from Festival Boulevard to Noorderzon, from the Café Theatre Festival to Festival Cement and from the Amsterdam Fringe Festival to the Zeeland Nazomerfestival? And then also exactly those four or five performances from the...
I tell you here why you should go to see Parsifal, and not even just because of the object by Anish Kapoor that plays a part in it. And you could also go to theatre one day, by the way. With The Girls. Fel theatre by our very best theatre company (according to Americans). The National Opera, Parsifal (opera) Four years ago, I attended Pierre Audi's...
This month, early music pioneer Marijke Ferguson turned 89. She led the adventurous ensemble Studio Laren for 30 years and has been making radio for over 50 years, the last 23 for the Concertzender. Time and again, she manages to intertwine old and new music with pop and world music in an appealing way. On Sunday 11 December, the Concertzender puts her centre stage during...
Jean-Michel Jarre was visiting the Netherlands. At the Heineken Music Hall, old and new fans could enjoy his hypnotic work. I went there to listen, but of course also to watch. Forty years ago, Jean-Michel Jarre, pioneer in synthesiser music, released Oxygène. Anno 2016, we are 12 million copies sold. On that huge scale, the Frenchman produces...
From 6 December, theatre Kikker will show a week-long anthology of talented and diverse young theatre makers. We looked ahead to this Winter Collection. Hannah Roelofs, herself just over 30, issues five warnings for people over 29. 1. Twenty-somethings! 'This is the generation that's losing his or her...
'What is the relevance of dance?' Since the The Relevance of Dance conference in March 2016, this question has been haunting my mind. Above all, I want to know why more people should dance. Therefore, I decide to put the question to inspiring and progressive dance teachers. The second one I question is Andrew Greenwood, who six months ago...
Each month, in the (Un)heard series, I present extraordinary sound that does not go unnoticed and unsung. In this November edition: Jacob Kirkegaard, Oren Ambarchi, Glice and N.M.O. Jacob Kirkegaard - Munk (Cassette, Phinery Tapes) Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard investigates the impact of sound resonance on our ears as well as the rest of the body. In Kirkegaard's work, direct, intimate contact via...
Until 31 December, classical music lovers can browse the unprecedented amount of sheet music, CDs and music books at Broekmans & van Poppel. The iconic shop, stately located next to Brasserie Keyzer and the Concertgebouw on the Van Baerlestraat in Amsterdam, will close its doors after 102 years. The family-run business will continue in Badhoevedorp, where the central warehouse is already...
In 1975, jazz musician Misha Mengelberg and artist Wim T. Schippers organised Een behoorlijk kabaal (Quite a racket) at Amsterdam's Mickery Theatre. For a week, they explore the different meanings of a concert in 'inimitable musical theatre'. Jacqueline Oskamp chose it as the title of her recently published book describing Dutch music history of the past century. Sad conclusion: there is...
Meg Stuart's two-hour heroic epic Until Our Hearts Stop, showing at the Rotterdam Schouwburg this week, does not engage in dramatic construction according to the rules of Aristotle's Poetics. We don't know who those people are there on stage. Nor do they seem to have been given any special assignment, although they are clearly being...
It is around 11 o'clock on Sunday evening. Jlin taps a rattling beat in the air with her index fingers. When the relentlessly sucking bass kicks in, she accompanies it with an elbow down. Her grin from ear to ear is met with cheers from the audience. Le Guess Who? 2016 (hereafter LGW) is coming to an end, but that's what these...
Last weekend, I attended a coffee concert by the baroque company The Continuo Company. At 53, I was one of the youngest visitors. Around me wrinkled faces and grey hair. I increasingly hear that ageing audiences for classical music are a problem. I think this is big nonsense and am becoming increasingly annoyed by this...
The show Holy F opens with an audition. Two young women present themselves to a director - a man. They pronounce their phrases impeccably simultaneous, with the sweet tone men like to hear. Their confusion grows. Do they really understand what the director wants from them? Can they handle the role they aspire to? Playing a strong woman: is...
In turbulent times, an evening of dance works therapeutically. Especially when three former Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) dancers show new work in Here we live and now. Only, anyone expecting a sharp look at current affairs by the programme title will be disappointed. Here we live and now refers mainly to choreographers who live or work in The Hague and shows a snapshot of their...
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