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Antony and Cleopatra, Tiago Rodrigues. Foto: Magda Bizarro.

'I have no problem at all if spectators want to see Anthony and Cleopatra. But for me, it's about something else.' Tiago Rodrigues writes theatre for dancers.

Anthony and Cleopatra is exactly the kind of repertory piece that people look forward to during the Holland Festival, or any other prestigious stage. Director and writer Tiago Rodrigues manages not so much to deflate that grandiose expectation as to reduce it to the intimacy of a duet and a play with extremely basic theatrical gestures. His two actors are dancers, an experienced choreographer duo 

Read More "'I have no problem at all if spectators want to see Anthony and Cleopatra. But for me, it's about something else.' Tiago Rodrigues writes theatre for dancers.

Los Incontados: a bizarre terrarium of small-human suffering in a cloud of cocaine and confetti.

Colombia's biggest export not only allows Urk fishermen to work long hours, or Amsterdam Zuidas lawyers to keep up with the global 24-hour economy. The white gold also dissolves the nasal septum of the cream of world culture, and costs thousands of lives in the country itself. That had to lead to a theatrical performance, and it did 

Read More "Los Incontados: a bizarre terrarium of small-human suffering in a cloud of cocaine and confetti.

What a broken-down bus has to do with liberation and feminism. Dancer Djino Alolo on Piki Piki at the Holland Festival

Djino Alolo Sabin (1990) sits there, relaxed, in the morning at the hotel in Brussels. The night before, he has danced his solo Piki Piki for the first time, which will also be shown at Theater Frascati during the Holland Festival. The performance touches on many intense themes, but is anything but melodramatic. Rather, it expresses a relentless optimism.... 

Read More "What a broken-down bus has to do with liberation and feminism. Dancer Djino Alolo on Piki Piki at the Holland Festival

In the greatest spectacle, ultimately the smallest detail touches your heart (which is why The Head and The Load had to be the royal opening of the Holland Festival).

Some stories are too big to tell. Too big, but no less important or true for that. Like the story of the millions of Africans who died in World War I in the service of the warring factions there: Britain, France, Italy and Germany. No one knew that last story. At least, nobody I knew knew about it, and neither did I myself. It... 

Read More "In the greatest spectacle, ultimately the smallest detail touches your heart (which is why The Head and The Load had to be the royal opening of the Holland Festival).

Why you should come see 'Struggle! 100 Years of Women's Suffrage' should come and see it

In the struggle for women's suffrage, the 'ordinary' housewife from Ten Boer in Groningen played just as vital a role as the widely praised Aletta Jacobs. She too walked in demonstrations, appeared in her grandmother's costume during protests and sewed a banner for the movement in her kitchen or living room. Like her peers from the rest of the Netherlands, she fought... 

Read More "Why you should come see 'Struggle! 100 Years of Women's Suffrage' should come and see it

Jesús de Vega makes Choreopop: 'There must always be something that causes friction.' (What a childhood in Gran Canaria does to a dancer)

'I have broken every bone on the left side of my body at least once. My knee ten years ago, my elbow five years later, a toe, a finger, and under my left eye I have a scar from a stone someone threw at me when I was a kid.' Jesús de Vega, dancer, choreographer, videographer and teremin player, has had the requisite... 

Read More "Jesús de Vega makes Choreopop: 'There must always be something that causes friction.' (What a childhood in Gran Canaria does to a dancer)

PODCAST! Beware the one-armed piano teacher. Bellevue presents comic show about Paul Wittgenstein.

Playing the piano without hands is quite difficult. With one hand it is already almost impossible, although Paul Wittgenstein came a long way. The pianist - and elder brother of the famous philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein - lost his right arm in the First World War trenches. He set about training his left arm with some dogged determination and was able to... 

Read More "PODCAST! Beware the one-armed piano teacher. Bellevue presents comic show about Paul Wittgenstein.

Composer Sander Germanus: 'Don't use drugs, listen to my music!'

'Don't use drugs, listen to my music!' This is what Sander Germanus (Amsterdam, 1972) writes confidently on his website. Words you don't immediately expect from a composer of modern-classical music. After all, in this context, many think of incomprehensible 'plink-plonk' rather than mind-blowing sounds. A refreshing sound from someone who designed his own method of composition, so-called 'horizontal harmony'. Ehm... What should we... 

Read More "Composer Sander Germanus: 'Don't use drugs, listen to my music!'

Shout out! The big fill-in for the new arts plan.

The Council for Culture has just proposed the new Basic Infrastructure (BIS), and it has become a very big, in traditional terms 'prosperous', baby. Since the Council is not allowed to name names, and can only list functions, we have already made a fill-in list here, in which we list (very briefly, because little time and not knowing about everything) which existing cultural... 

Read More "Shout out! The big fill-in for the new arts plan.

CLASH is an ode to art

Art at a music festival often degenerates into decoration, but that certainly does not apply to Groningen's CLASH. 'We don't want art to be left out of the programming, but rather to be given full attention. We think it deserves that,' says organiser Milou de Boer. Fifty per cent of CLASH's programming budget goes to the arts, and that was too... 

Read More "CLASH is an ode to art

Floating with sea legs through a 600-metre tower: Das Totale Tanz Theater celebrates 100 years of Bauhaus

Some 400 virtual metres we go up with the dancers. Beforehand, we are warned to look straight ahead if we are afraid of heights. For me, this was unnecessary, I loved flying along in the huge circular space, knowing I was safely ensconced in a chair. Choreography, avatars, architecture and Blixa Bargeld. Those are a few... 

Read More "Floating with sea legs through a 600-metre tower: Das Totale Tanz Theater celebrates 100 years of Bauhaus

Innovation in dance: give young creators space and you'll get it!

Water and dance have agility in common. Yet there is much more to be gained from this interface. Two choreographies in the New Adventures series give audiences a water experience that is both playful and reflective. Under the title New Adventures, Dansmakers Amsterdam presents work by selected dancers and choreographers that they created during a four-week study residency at the production house,... 

Read More "Innovation in dance: give young creators space and you'll get it!

What is it with the dance sector in Amsterdam? Another dance production house is being deprived of subsidies.

Is production house Dansmakers Amsterdam losing its housing? Together with other institutions in the dance sector, it has made every effort to align and further develop the whole spectrum of dance facilities in Amsterdam. In 2018, for example, the joint plan Danswerf was developed and submitted as an application for a two-year development grant to the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK)... 

Read More "What is it with the dance sector in Amsterdam? Another dance production house is being deprived of subsidies.

*With sound!* Why the Holland Festival show doesn't have to stop for now

'Please stop the show!", shouted an 83-year-old former reviewer from the back row. Theatre Frascati fell silent for a moment. There had never really been such an interruption at the Holland Festival's traditionally festive press conference. And that while Faustin Linyekula had just got into his stride, telling about the projects he is carrying out with his Studio Kanako in Kisangani. They provided... 

Read More "*With sound!* Why the Holland Festival show doesn't have to stop for now

NS presents the first train thriller on WhatsApp. Authors Jowi Schmitz and Louis Stiller test the experience

'The first Dutch WhatsApp thriller' was launched at the end of January. For five days, a select group of screen readers could follow this 'real time' story. Writers Jowi Schmitz and Louis Stiller were among them, app'ing with each other about this new form of storytelling. Sunday Louis > Suddenly a whole pile of names in my whatsapp (including 'paps' and 'mums'). Jowi > I give them... 

Read More "NS presents the first train thriller on WhatsApp. Authors Jowi Schmitz and Louis Stiller test the experience
Fotograaf: Jan Sol

Why I will be nice to a beggar next time. (What Ilay den Boer can't manage)

Because the weather was record beautiful, I walked from Amsterdam Centraal to Theater Bellevue on Sunday 17 February 2019. I was going to see the performance 'And so I shall go again.' going to see, by Ilay den Boer, someone I used to follow intensively but had lost track of since I am no longer a paid opinion seller. I considered the title of the performance as... 

Read More "Why I will be nice to a beggar next time. (What Ilay den Boer can't manage)

'A murder of a whore that involved all the high-ups.' Tomas Ross on the never-explained murder of Blonde Dolly from The Hague

How did the Hague prostitute Blonde Dolly make her millions? And why was her killer never caught, when it was abundantly clear who must have strangled her? That smells like a conspiracy, and conspiracies are like grist to writer Tomas Ross' mill. In Blonde Dolly, he tackles one of the oldest and most mysterious cold cases in the Netherlands. Until it... 

Read More "'A murder of a whore that involved all the high-ups.' Tomas Ross on the never-explained murder of Blonde Dolly from The Hague

'Stories are not that fascinating, it's what you see that matters' - Tsai Ming Liang and the art of watching

Eye film museum kicks off its Virtual Reality season with Tsai Ming Liang's The Deserted. Tsai himself was in the country for a masterclass, introductions and interviews. And although his films suggest otherwise, he is a very animated speaker. In his masterclass, he talked about his career, his collaboration with muse and regular actor Lee Kang-Sheng, and his position... 

Read More "'Stories are not that fascinating, it's what you see that matters' - Tsai Ming Liang and the art of watching

Lower House gets less say on arts subsidies. (If the minister gets her way)

Some people read Christmas stories over Christmas, others the interview supplements of newspapers, and a few do so with policy documents. So, quite a few people have read our Culture Minister's 'Advice Request' in the past few days. I, at least. Those who 'officially' cannot have done so are the members of the Culture Council, because the whole package came... 

Read More "Lower House gets less say on arts subsidies. (If the minister gets her way)

Buying a carton of milk in Venice? Forget it. Writer Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer on his new novel and the future of Europe

'Caffè e acqua frizzante, per favore.' Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer orders a coffee and water from the waitress of bar 28 Erbe. It's late morning and the terrace in Piazza dell' Erbe, a stone's throw from the palazzo where the writer lives, is slowly starting to get a bit busier. Pfeijffer has now been living in the... 

Read More "Buying a carton of milk in Venice? Forget it. Writer Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer on his new novel and the future of Europe

Why something needs to happen soon for amateur theatre in Utrecht

The Utrecht Centre for the Arts is bankrupt after a long ordeal. It was cut back. There is no more room in the Netherlands' fourth city for a large, centrally organised music and culture school. Nor for pottery, painting and video filming. The city council has found a solution. For the soon-to-be homeless UCK students, the municipality thinks... 

Read More "Why something needs to happen soon for amateur theatre in Utrecht

Why it's good that De Nederlandse Reisopera is coming to you with Die Tote Stadt.

In 1920, Erich Wolfgang Korngold experienced triumphs with his psychological opera Die tote Stadt. The work was performed in more than eighty cities at the time, with unanimous critical acclaim. The opera then disappeared from the stage for a long time but is nowadays performed again sparsely. So it is good that the Nederlandse Reisopera is bringing this almost forgotten piece back to the stage.... 

Read More "Why it's good that De Nederlandse Reisopera is coming to you with Die Tote Stadt.

Cultural sector on expedition to Zero Waste: A prelude to a circular cultural sector

Eight cultural institutions started the first Zero Waste Expedition Culture this year. During this expedition, the first steps were taken in terms of waste separation and waste prevention. The Maaspoort in Venlo, Kunstlinie Almere Flevoland, Luxor Theatre Rotterdam, Museon, Paradiso, Tivoli/Vredenburg, the Zuiderzeemuseum and the Van Abbemuseum are the frontrunners in the expedition, setting an example for their... 

Read More "Cultural sector on expedition to Zero Waste: A prelude to a circular cultural sector

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