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Diego del Morao does himself a great disservice at Flamenco Biennale with unprofessional stage presentation

Between 21 and 30 January 2011, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam will host the Flamenco Biennial, a music and dance fest around that mythical Spanish primal music that leaves no one untouched. A style of music, moreover, that developed in parallel with the history of the Iberian peninsula, where the culture of the Indian Roma gypsies came together with that of the... 

"RutteLeaks": Prime minister and state secretary don't know their own figures: income requirements for arts institutions already met in 2007 and most subsidy already going to successful institutions

We already thought something was wrong when Mark Rutte, in his much applauded show of strength in Buitenhof, spoke of 'all those empty halls with 10 people in the front row'. Ok, he hadn't been there himself for years, but according to his State Secretary Halbe Zijlstra, at least in The Hague, the emptiness was glaring, Rutte knew.... 

Tamer who! Haifa what! Some mega concerts are totally ignored by the media, like that of Tamer Hosny and Haifa Wehbe

Of course, we sometimes miss one. And of course Caro Emerald is cool and Graffity 6 is new. But there is more culture in the Netherlands than many users of mainstream media realise. Deep into the 1980s, sports halls were already full for Rai musicians, and that was years before Cheb Khaled penetrated the charts with Aïsha. The Cape Verdean community in Rotterdam... 

Moma shows video artwork previously barred from Smithsonian by American Christians

As recently as November, the Smithonian patronage-funded National Portait Gallery removed the work, following protests by US Catholics and Republicans. They found the video, titled 'A fire in my belly' by New York artist David Wojnarowicz, who died in 1992, offensive. Yesterday, the Metroplitan Museum of Modern Art (Moma) in New York announced the work they had given the... 

Anything to get amateurs into the stands: money for 'Dance Gardens', local residents and the Concert Hall

About 8 million Dutch people do something with art. They have music lessons, macramé plant pendants, paint plates or put together Christmas cards. But they also play theatre, sing in a choir, are part of a hip-hop crew or death metal band. That these practitioners of amateur art are not automatically also regular visitors to professional art is a mystery to many people. The Fund ... 

National Travel Opera possibly first victim of culture cuts

The rapid austerity operation of at least 200 million on the cultural sector has yet to be fleshed out, but one thing is already clear. If it were up to state secretary Halbe Zijlstra, the National Reisopera, which operates from Enschede, would stand a good chance of being killed in that operation. His request for advice to the Culture Council, sent the week before Christmas, states the following:... 

Concert hall finds wealthy partner for education and development in Deutsche Bank

The Concertgebouw Amsterdam has found its first 'partner' in the large capital-rich business community. With this, the Dutch world-famous crown jewel fulfils the Rutte Cabinet's desire to get more money 'from the market'. By the way, the capital-rich party found does not come from the Netherlands, but from Germany: "With effect from 1 January 2011, Deutsche Bank and Het Concertgebouw NV will enter into a... 

Arts budget debated in second chamber: hardly any discussion on 200 million cut to performing arts

We were at a debate day in The Hague that was as inconspicuous as it was historic on 13 December 2010: it was about the budget of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the (first?) Rutte government, and that was the budget in which, at the request of the supporting party PVV, the amount to be cut in the arts budget was set at 200 million, with heritage and museums having to... 

The arts subsidy system is like a house that changes hands a little too often: new cultural policy Rutte cabinet is capital destruction

The art subsidy system is like a house that changes hands a little too often. In 2008, after long deliberations, the previous owner fitted a new kitchen, replaced the bathroom, installed a new central heating boiler + underfloor heating and freshly painted the exterior. However, he had to move out prematurely, and now the new owner plans to replace the old kitchen... 

Venues can switch to LED light and save money without artistic consequences

They researched it. And so it turns out to be true. You can also use sustainable light bulbs on stage. And that saves energy. Whether this will immediately get rid of the government's idiotic revenge cuts remains to be seen, because 200,000,000 euros is quite a lot of energy-saving light bulbs. But the start is there. From the press release of the Association of Stage Technology: With... 

IDFA 2010 - State of the Stars double winner

Leonard Retel Helmrich's Stand of the Stars is a two-time winner of the Amsterdam documentary festival IDFA. At the awards ceremony at the Tuschinski theatre, it was announced that this dynamic and poetic portrait of a poor Indonesian family not only won the VPRO IDFA Award for best feature-length documentary, but was also chosen (by another jury) as the best of the... 

IDFA 2010 - The documentary Utopia in Four Movements as a live experience

The latest in documentary screening has nothing to do with websites or other new media. On the contrary, the presentation of the 'live documentary' Utopia in Four Movements, which IDFA had the European premiere of, in fact harks back to the primal form of cinema, when films were shown with live music and a so-called explicateur. Those... 

IDFA 2010 - George Sluizer wants to give Palestinians dignity with Homeland

After the opening film Stand of the Stars, the second major premiere of a Dutch documentary at IDFA was that of Homeland. The screening at the Tuschinski Theatre, incidentally, was not just about the Palestinian cause, as it was also, of course, a celebration in honour of 78-year-old director George Sluizer (Spoorloos), arguably our most internationally oriented filmmaker.... 

How old news suddenly becomes current. "The Spy who loved Abstract Expressionism: free art as a weapon against totalitarian enemy" dates from 1995.

Today we posted this message, and quickly realised that the news had been released before. Only a few minutes later it dawned on us that the original post, of which this is a free translation, had already appeared on The Independent's site on 22 October 1995. Thanks to a database update and a perceptive site visitor, who... 

Anne Sofie von Otter in De Doelen: 'classical' Bach comes off worst, triumph for 'populist' Handel

Among lovers of the music of contemporaries Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and George Frederic Handel (1685-1759), the bickering is well comparable to that between supporters of Beatles and Rolling Stones. Bach is classical, Handel populist, Bach wrote lofty music, Handel flat-out , Bach was (barring his St Matthew Passion) succinct in his musical statements, Handel rambled on endlessly. And so... 

How much darkness can a theatre-goer handle? Alize Zandwijk tests it with 'Dog days'.

Beppe Costa. Who doesn't know him. And who wouldn't go to a show he plays in without thinking for a minute? After all, the little Italian musical jack-of-all-trades is capable of winning hearts with his music. And with his presence. Well. Director Alize Zandwijk must have thought: we're going to change that image completely this autumn,... 

What Bert Hana can do, you don't learn at any school: turn your own life into art. #njc10

Wonderful though theatre is. The closing night of the Autumn Collection festival made me realise once again that the best actors do not always make the best performance. Expressiveness depends on more than acting talent and a proven literary text.

Two idols and lots of cute girls at Saturday's Autumn Collection #njc10

It stood out: what a lot of cute girls in Theatre Kikker. Could it be because of the programming? Now there were a lot of cute men to choose from on Saturday night. The tough acting beasts of FC Bergman, for instance, or the androgynous Nik van den Berg, or perhaps the seemingly sweet Bert Hana. And if not, there was always DJ Oscar Kocken,... 

Bouncing along with the funny, touching, uncontrollable Ray in Renske van den Broek's musical theatre performance Fast Car #njc10

Irrepressible, funny, touching Fast Car Ray. A boy whose head is never still, who does not sleep, to whom everything comes in and who just cannot manage to love himself. His illness, Tourette's Syndrome, makes him delusional and desperate. Tick-tock. On and on, on and on. Like a racing car.

Sometimes a story is beautiful enough when told: Autoroute du Soleil by Leen Verheyen demonstrates that

Once upon a time, a very long time ago in a different country from today, there was a play about a boy from Bosnia who made crowds cry. Ad de Bont had not only written a sensitive story with Mirad, a boy from Bosnia, but he also found the perfect way to deliver that story. It from letters to and from a... 

State of the Stars opens IDFA documentary festival

Leonard Retel Helmrich's Dutch documentary Stand of the Stars will open the 23rd edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on 17 November, it was announced yesterday. The film is also in the competition for best feature-length documentary. State of the Stars is the third part of a triptych in which Retel Helmrich follows the fortunes of... 

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