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Usually without lyrics, often with music, always with movement

Samir Calixto, Paradise Lost (photo by Joris Jan Bos)

Opening CaDance: Milton's 'Paradise Lost' according to Samir Calixto

More than 10,000 lines of verse comprise Englishman John Milton's poem Paradise Lost (1667). It cannot be easy to capture that in an hour-long dance performance and yet that is what choreographer Samir Calixto set out to do. Earlier, the young Brazilian cut his teeth on Schubert's Winterreise and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. On Friday, he opened with Paradise Lost the... 

FADO photo Robert Benschop

Surprising winners Dance Audience Awards 2014

After a nerve-wracking final and precise evaluation of votes, the winners of the 2014 Dance Audience Award have been announced. Favourite Dance Performance is FADO from International Dance Theatre, Favourite Dancer is Merel Janssen from Introdans Ensemble for Youth.

The winners of the 2014 Oeuvre Prize and Dance Photo of the Year are also known. Artistic director Roel Voorintholt of Introdans received many entries and praise for his commitment to Dutch dance. Photographer Hans Hordijk won with ee...

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Super-sympathetic performance by Phillipe Quesne: Next Day

The children introduce themselves one by one. They build sets, make music and play scenes. A catastrophe is imminent. They speculate loosely: will it be a nuclear or biological attack, a plane or a missile, a tsunami or a bombing? In Next Day, shown last weekend at Theatre Frascati, they rehearse an attack by 'aliens'. That... 

And the 2014 Dance Photo nominees are...

The Official Nominations for the first Dance Photo of the Year election have been announced. From 43 entries, Hans van Manen (choreographer) and Thomas Cott (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) compiled a top six. We couldn't think of a better jury for a preselection. Now we are curious to hear your vote. The Dance Photo of the Year election puts dance photographers and their work in the spotlight. Because. 

Vote now! Nominations Dance Audience Award 2014 announced

The Official Nominations for the 2014 Dance Audience Award have been announced. Check out the 10 favourite dance performances and 10 favourite dancers of 2014. You can also vote for them. Varied entries For the Dance Audience Award, almost 800 dance performance visitors sent in nominations of no fewer than 105 dancers and 65 dance performances. From Igone de Jongh of the Dutch National Ballet to the young Carlos Puts in... 

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, ... 

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... 

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

Dancer and choreographer Truus Bronkhorst initiated a collaboration between Antwerp-based Kunst/Werk and Tilburg-based T.R.A.S.H. The double programme and duet combines choreographies by Marc Vanrunxt and Kristel van Issum. Ende der Zukunft has become a wondrous staging of gaping gaps: of time of life, of artistic experience, but above all of artistic conception. Intergenerationality (oui, c'est un mot) concerns relationships that... 

dance church

How a dance house in Amsterdam is now succeeding

While Amsterdam languished for years with a plan for a Dance House, Chassé Dance Studios will open its doors in December. The former Chassé church has been transformed into a multifunctional centre with eight professional dance studios, 45 hotel rooms, a gym in the ridge, and a grand café. Lenny Balkissoon, ex-dancer and actor (Zeg 'ns Aaa) financed, designed and organises the construction. Cultural entrepreneurship in turbulent times. It can be done.

The Amsterdam municipality made 1.8 million euros available...

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Plastic Junkies by Antonin Comestaz, photo Robert Benschop

Squeaky plastic and schizophrenia in Here We Live And Now by NDT and Korzo

Among the audience at Korzo theatre in The Hague at the performance 'Here We Live And Now' are a striking number of dancers from Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). No wonder, as many of their colleagues are involved in this performance. This annual programme featuring young choreographic talent is a co-production of NDT and Korzo. The addition 'Hague' talent, by the way, may be taken with... 

Google and facebook take over role of galleries, publishers and impresarios

For most artists, it is an ideal. Being represented by a gallery. Writers have their sights set on a contract with a publisher. Musicians eye labels eagerly and theatre-makers queue up for an impresario. Creators have a love-hate relationship with such intermediaries. Because while the average creative professional would be willing to spare a toe in exchange... 

Maas Theatre and Dance's Greeks: compelling and bewildering for young and old alike

First story. A naked king crawls at the feet of a woman. She is much taller than him, a goddess. High above him, she holds a bunch of grapes in her hand. Hungry he is! He wants those grapes, all of them. His body is vulnerable. It seems to shiver in the open air. But when it comes to the coveted food, he fetches... 

Four reasons to go to Words & Beyond II: Nan Sul Hun

After the world premiere of Words & Beyond II: Nan Sul Hun by Seung-Won Oh yesterday at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, the audience stood up as one to applaud Slagwerk Den Haag and the soloists. It was therefore a magical performance, which will be repeated at De Doelen in Rotterdam and at Theater aan de... 

Spectacular slow down in Bruges: Slow (36h) makes 'nothingness' palpable.

We are moving too fast. Politics moves too fast, the news moves too fast, and no one takes the time anymore to spend a quiet time listening to a piece of music, reading a thick book, or listening to and watching slow art for 36 hours at the Bruges Concert Hall. So the concert hall in Bruges is organising a festival with... 

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (7): 'If the knowledge is lost, so is the heritage.'

Wijbrand Schaap: 'Just one more point. Then we're almost through.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'Continue quietly, we have until half past five.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'We have a problem with real estate. A lot of inner cities are empty. Shop premises are empty, downtown office buildings are unrentable. What do the municipalities say? Put artists in them. Cost nothing, because for free rent they do... 

1967, choreographer Koert Stuyf and dancer Ellen Edinoff

5 reasons for the new Ellen Edinoff and Koert Stuyf Fund

A year ago, one of Holland's most legendary dancers died: Ellen Edinoff. She danced mainly in the 1960s and 1970s but there was always a hint of grandeur and mystery surrounding her and her husband, choreographer Koert Stuyf. Now a fund is being set up at the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund to support young dancers and creators of contemporary dance. 5 reasons why.

1. The last shirt has no pockets
Ellen Edinoff left some savings. Koert Stuyf ...

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The-Black-Piece

The Black Piece. The preview. The debrief.

At some performances, you groan inwardly whether it will all work out. With other performances, you groan that it will turn out so well. The Black Piece is the latter. Ann Van den Broek's latest production was created with input from dancers and test audiences. Then it can hardly go wrong. The preview shows a penetrating mix of versions of the term black. As if you, the audience, are forced to stand in front of a fogged-up mirror where the haze slowly rises...

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What is art, and what should it cost? Thus Radio Futura

This Friday on Radio Futura, members of Dood Paard and tg STAN break down what art is, and how much it should cost.

These questions have been asked before. And from Henk & Ingrid and Holland's neo-conservative free-market jihadis, we know the answer by now. But what about the artists themselves? Which art can be cut. And who likes to stab their colleague in the back for more money?

In preparation and illustration, below are 6 small polls. Note: it is pu...

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Proven: theatre-goers seek intellectual satisfaction and hardly ever read reviews

Drama reviews mainly fill a need among artists and journalists. Newspaper readers hardly use them. In London, this has been studied. Only 36 per cent of theatre-goers say they read reviews. Much more value fans place on tips from friends and family. Last Saturday at Amsterdam's De Balie debate centre, there was a discussion between theatre-makers,... 

5 times 'Yes' for smashing combo of dance and opera in Sasha Waltz' Orfeo

Days after the grand scenic world premiere of Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, De Nationale Opera once again comes up with a more than remarkable production of international stature. Everything and everyone dances and sings. (1) So you think you can dance? Sure. The modern opera singer(s) is used to something. Simply stepping forward and singing your aria was outdated decades ago. And. 

'Grandiose' opening Theatre Festival doesn't quite take away the pain

"Grand opening, right?" Jeffrey Meulman, the man who as director of the ailing Theatre Festival gave the word "inspired" a new dimension, was delighted. It was Thursday night, September 4, 2014. Shortly before, I had seriously considered jumping from the 1st balcony of the Stadsschouwburg, rather than applauding Tauerbach, the opening performance of The Theatre Festival. It is... 

The Ballet Orchestra

Holland Symfonia is now THE Ballet Orchestra. National and Dutch at the same time

On the phone, it takes some getting used to. 'Good morning, Holland Symfonia speaking', you hear when you call the orchestra in Amsterdam's Q-factory studios. But that's not the orchestra's name at all. In fact, Holland Symfonia has a new name: The Ballet Orchestra.

Coming up with names for orchestras, just start. First, you had the Netherlands Ballet Orchestra, regular orchestral partner of the Dutch National Ballet. That sat in the Muziektheater Amsterdam. The idea of an orchestra specifically for ballet came in the y...

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The world's most beautiful artist foyer is in the Zuiderstrand Theatre

So the building is a bit redundant, well considered. After years of drawing, tug-of-war and plans for a new venue complex in the city centre of The Hague, local politicians blew off the Spui Forum earlier this year. Now, I'm sure there will have been all kinds of criticisms of that building plan, but the consequences of the lokalos blowing it off are not... 

8 enticing words about Festival Boulevard.

It is the most ambitious summer festival in the Netherlands: Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch aims to showcase not only the finest theatre theatre theatre in the low countries, but also the fattest shows, and youngest new creators and the merriest bus drivers. And all in 10 days, in once tad where the local newspaper does its best to make culture as scary as possible. We sum it up for you in eight enticing words.
Louis
Like Louis van Gaal coming to coach the local FC for four years...

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Gertrud Leistikow: So are the real roots of modern dance in the Netherlands after all?

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).

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