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Holland Festival

Het Holland Festival is het meest toonaangevende festival van Nederland, en toont het beste wat er internationaal en nationaal op de grotere podia wordt gemaakt.

7 ways to make art out of US democracy. #HF17

The play La Democrazia in America (to be seen at the Holland Festival on 4, 5 and 6 June) is of course about democracy in America, but actually more about The Democracy in America. And the two should not be confused. For The Democracy in America is a 1,200-page book by French jurist De Tocqueville. This... 

About directionless hipsters, their parents, and the war in Europe (coming) #HF17

Vincent Macaigne is uncomfortable. He looks around nervously every time the waitresses run past with trays full of clinking glasses and slam the doors. He has hardly slept, and the previous evening he had walloped the audience of the Swiss Theatre Vidy with his brutal, inimitable performance En Manque. Braced, he sat down for the interview. "Sorry, I... 

Why we're losing more and more music thanks to 'digital' #HF17

For new music, the primal performance is often also immediately the last time a piece is played. The scores await the archive or dusty drawer; recordings are nowhere to be found. David Dramm searches for these gems of stilted notes. He presents them in the Holland Festival's Orphanage: three evenings of forgotten compositions from the rich... 

Baudet's art vision blamed for old battle between Rotterdam and Leiden

For those who like to be around art, politics has become a bit more fun again, since 15 March. Since the 2017 elections, Thierry Baudet has been in the House of Representatives. Thierry Baudet knows a lot about art, he thinks, and we will come to know it, too. In fact, Thierry Baudet is the best thing about art these days... 

Rewire 2017 in 10 shots: Festival voor radicalisme met een glimlach

Doe het. Maak het. Trek je niets aan van anderen. Denk niet na over de consequenties. Dan zit je maar even op de blaren, die helen wel weer. Even honger lijden voor de kunst is ook niet erg. Kies dus je eigen pad en geniet van elke stap. Bovenal: leef in het hier en nu, de hele tijd. Geschiedenis wordt… 

Avontuur in Den Haag: 5 redenen om naar Rewire te gaan (zwoele gekkigheid is er 1 van)

Rewire staat weer voor de deur. Van 31 maart tot en met 2 april speelt het festival zich af in de binnenstad van Den Haag. Het jonge festival doet dat met een keur aan kleuren en smaken, (net) buiten de mainstream. Dus: daar waar avontuur en het grote ongewisse juist pré’s vormen – diametraal tegenover Guus Meeuwis op het hoofdpodium.… 

7 reasons why you should invest in Holland Festival 2017 #hf17

Ruth Mackenzie has achieved an enormous amount in the short time she has been boss of Holland Festival. I've experienced the festival now since the late 1990s and watched it evolve from something very personal and sometimes obscure (under Ivo van Hove), to an ethereal feast of sizzling aesthetics (with Pierre Audi), to what it... 

Jim Jarmusch with Paterson already one of the toppers of 'Rotterdam' #iffr

The International Film Festival Rotterdam(IFFR)'s famous Tiger logo has been changed into a colourful IFFR Planet, in which, with a little effort, the tiger can still be found. That colourful is also reflected in the programming. I am looking for the finest gems from the programme. From the USA comes 'Paterson', vintage Jim Jarmusch. But there... 

YouTube is bursting at the seams!

It is easier than ever to produce and distribute your own videos. Every minute, more than 300 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube. Is this gigantic amount still manageable? No. The video platform has become too big to continue to exist without problems. By Nuno Blijboom There is no better source for cat videos, bullying vloggers and gaming youngsters 

Holland Festival must look for new director: Mackenzie to Paris in 2019

It's quite unfortunate. Ruth Mackenzie is moving into even higher realms. She has made the past two editions of the Holland Festival considerably more refreshed and modern, and so it stands out. Paris beckons. Ruth Mackenzie has been nominated by Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, as Directrice Artistique (artistic director) of Théâtre du Châtelet, as of 2019. This means Ruth Mackenzie will direct the festival's... 

Why I love that the Holland Festival is programming Stockhausen's 'Aus Licht'

Towards the end of the year, we are inundated with lists. The best CDs, the best books, the performances you shouldn't have missed, etcetera. In this sea of choices from reviewers and other opinion makers, one post stands out, from opera critic Olivier Keegel. He started a veritable petition to prevent Karlheinz Stockhausen's 'Aus Licht' from being performed in June 2019,... 

Seven shows you wish you had seen in 2016 (but don't give up hope)

In The Hague, they think it's a waste of money. Let them. Here are seven performances that were more than worth 'that sin'. Mona, Ariadne, Mariken, but also breathtaking circus theatre, a secret marriage, genre-transcending satire and the greatest set ever. Mona, NTJong (youth theatre/drama) 1. It is the biggest pitfall of the age indication in theatre performances. Put 6+ and you... 

My 2016, and why it scared me to death. (A list)

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... 

Garry Feingold and Ger Jager, Dance Makers, 2012. Photo: Jean-Pierre Jans.

Extremely rare landslide possible in contemporary dance in the Netherlands.

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 is pushing away the voice of artists: procedures and formats are... 

Quirky Veem sets example for dance sector

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... 

Deze vijf voorstellingen wil je echt zien in december

Ik vertel je hier waarom je naar Parsifal zou moeten gaan, en niet eens alleen vanwege het object van Anish Kapoor dat erin een rol speelt. En je zou trouwens ook een keer naar toneel kunnen. Met De Meiden. Fel theater van ons allerbeste theatergezelschap (volgens de Amerikanen). De Nationale Opera, Parsifal (opera) Vier jaar geleden bezocht ik Pierre Audi’s… 

Meg Stuart throws very ordinary bodies into the fray

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... 

Houd op te zeuren over de vergrijzing van het publiek bij klassieke concerten

Afgelopen weekend bezocht ik een koffieconcert van het barokgezelschap The Continuo Company. Met m’n 53 jaar was ik een van de jongste bezoekers. Om me heen gerimpelde gezichten en grijze haren. Steeds vaker hoor ik dat vergrijzing van het publiek voor klassieke muziek een probleem is. Ik vind dat grote onzin en begin me steeds meer te ergeren aan deze… 

Joseph Puglia schittert in muziek Luciano Berio

De Amerikaans-Nederlandse violist Joseph Puglia is een hartstochtelijk pleitbezorger van eigentijdse muziek. Vorig jaar gooide hij hoge ogen met zijn vertolking van het Vioolconcert van Anders Hillborg, samen met de jonge musici van het NJO Symfonieorkest. Hij is eerste violist van Asko|Schönberg, waarmee hij eerder dit jaar de wereldpremière presenteerde van het speciaal voor hem gecomponeerde vioolconcert Roads to Everywhere van Joey Roukens.

Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis, Joël Pommerat, foto: Elisabeth Carecchio.

Op de rand van Europa trekt Holland Festival 86.000 bezoekers #HF16

Ruth Mackenzie heeft nieuw elan gebracht in het Holland Festival. Niet dat haar voorganger Pierre Audi het slecht deed, maar het Britse organisatietalent heeft wel gezorgd voor actualiteit en urgentie in het programma. Toen zij haar programmathema bedacht, zal ook zij niet hebben kunnen vermoeden dat het begrip ‘Edges of Europe’ zo’n lading zou krijgen. Immers, tegelijk met het laatste weekend van het festival besloot de Engelse bevolking tegen de zin van iedereen behalve de Welsh, de Europese Unie achter zich te laten. Nederland ligt opeens aan de uiterste rand van Europa, met alleen nog zicht op het verre Ierland.

Akram Khan Until the Lions © Jean Louis Fernandez

Akram Khan's 'Until the Lions' drags you through borders #HF16

Al bij binnenkomst in het Ketelhuis van de Amsterdamse Westergasfabriek neemt een donker dreunende toon je op in de mistige, ietwat onheilspellende sfeer van ‘Until the Lions’ van Akram Khan Company. Een enorme schijf uit een boomstam, met grillige jaarringen en barsten, zal het toneel worden van een mythische strijd. Inzet is het menselijk lichaam: zwak, sterk, mannelijk, vrouwelijk. Grenzen zullen sneuvelen.

Roaring, pounding big band overwhelms with conspiracies #hf16

Een bigband, een tikkende klok, samenzweringstheorieën en twaalftonigheid. Mix dat in een theatrale setting en het kan gierend uit de bocht vliegen. Toch weet componist Darcy James Argue er een stuwend en enerverend geheel van te maken, met hulp van regisseur Isaac Butler en filmmaker Peter Nigrihi.

Wunderbaum sends you into the night with a smile #HF16

This year's Holland Festival spotlights Rotterdam-based theatre collective Wunderbaum with the revival of 'The Coming of Xia', premieres of 'Privacy' and 'The Future of Sex' and the film 'Stop acting now'. With this film, Wunderbaum concludes their four-year project 'The New Forest', a 'Platform for social change', according to Wunderbaum, "The New Forest depicts transition and casts a... 

Stella actors Oscar Batterham and Richard Cant © Matthew Hargraves

Neil Bartlett's Stella: so perfect it's a bit irritating #HF16

The smallest details speak for themselves. For the second time during this edition of the Holland Festival, the legendary BBC series This Life comes along. Richard Cant, who plays a flawless lead role in Neil Bartlett's play Stella, has previously appeared in This Life, the series that set the standard for the modern docusoap in 1996. So now live, up close, in De Brakke Grond's Red Hall, the man who also played a solid role in Midsomer Murders.

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