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Jens Hillje of the Gorki Theatre Berlin (Photo Wijbrand Schaap)

Play 'Nibelungen' debunks modern Europe at Holland Festival

Berlin's Gorki Theatre won a prize this year: it was named the best theatre in the German language area by the German-language press. The company won the award partly because it employs many actors of immigrant origin. With its performance Der Untergang der Nibelungen, which can be seen in this year's Holland Festival, the group also thematises the... 

PopArts Festival: Vest pocket intimacy, poetry and bitter irony

No foreign performances at the sixth PopArts festival. Are the budget cuts making themselves felt? The festival programmes internationally every other year, and this year it is staying close to home. With Nicola Unger, there were the other Dutch 'usual suspects' like Duda Paiva and guest artists from the Ulrique Quade Company. But the De Krakeling and the Ostadetheater also featured young makers... 

The five shows you must see in February

#1 Salzburger Festspiele / Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz / Katie Mitchell, The forbidden zone (theatre/performance) - Dutch premiere 11 February, Stadsschouwburg AmsterdamThe British director Katie Mitchell is this month's 'arsonist' at Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg. With performances that are as scintillating as they are transgressive. The forbidden zone is about areas long off-limits to women: wete... You can log in now to continue... 

The magic formula: art covered in applesauce

The post on facebook that dominated my timeline today: the spontaneous concert at NS station Amsterdam Centraal, taken from the NRC's website (link: http://www.nrc.nl/muziek/2014/10/09/hoe-drie-artiesten-onverwacht-samen-optraden-op-adam-cs/ For several weeks, this station has had a piano on which anyone can play. A playful action by the NS to make waiting more fun. This leads to surprising situations. Like this one in which a pianist... 

Grindr experiment in Berlin discontinued. Artist meets boundaries 'theatre of experience'

Forty roofless hotel rooms, and then hearing your own story back as you see yourself reflected in the distant ceiling. Or: walking behind a guide through the Lombok district of Utrecht, while being provided with an overload of extra information on your headphones. About your guide. Or not. About yourself. Welcome to the universe of Dries Verhoeven, since a small... 

What does art do to your brain? Mark Mieras explains it in 4 sentences, more on Radio Futura on Thursday

You really have to be a hardcore debate fan to want to voluntarily listen to a conversation about education. Yet this Thursday's Radio Futura broadcast will be interesting, because it's about Radical Education and brains. Brains are hot, thanks to Dick Swaab and insights from brain-based teaching.

Science journalist Mark Mieras takes a quick preview of his theatre lecture The Playing Man below, explaining what art does to your brain. On Thursday, he will tell more, in sp...

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Debating reviews is pointless. Readers are perfectly capable of judging for themselves.

Art has rapidly become unimportant. Artists have been effectively dismissed by populists as subsidy-addicted scum. Media leaves no opportunity to downplay the consequences of the ensuing cuts. Putin is about to bring a third world war to Europe. In Amsterdam on Saturday, September 6, three of the Netherlands' last daily newspaper critics talk to artists about... 

On M2M and genius theatre makers who completely miss the mark

One of the rules of thumb of contemporary theatre art reads as follows: There is no middle ground in a production with an insanely long title. Such a production is fantastic, or dies of its own pretensions. With Judson church is ringing in Harlem (made to measure) / twenty looks of paris is burning at the judson church (m2m), the latter is the case.

In 2012, I saw an earlier performance by dancer/choreographer Trajal Harrell, titled (M)imosa. A fascinating, disruptive and be...

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Ragged ritual defies permanent display: Germaine Kruip at the Stedelijk @HollandFestival 2014

"You know ma'am, that big red painting? Turn right before that". A young attendant shows us the way. At first glance, it's nothing. A man in semi-uniform, black trousers, white shirt, slowly turns on his axis. Sol Lewitt's mural, number 1084 from 2003, lends him the necessary decorum. Around the corner hang Barnett Newman and Andy Warhol. Would the man care? In this 'hall of fame' of conceptual art, the man's spinning stands out somewhat timidly. Some...

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Pierre Audi's latest Holland Festival opens with sublime ensemble playing of Rosas and Ictus: Vortex Temporum

It seems like a statement, opening the latest Holland Festival under Pierre Audi's direction with 'Vortex Temporum'. The collaboration between the two top Belgian ensembles Rosas and Ictus does everything that is scarce in the present day.

Sometimes a good story needs to be told, not just imagined.

Some art needs a story. Then a canvas on the wall with the caption 'Untitled' is not enough. The performance 'Laaroussa' (Bride) by French-Tunisian brother and sister Selma and Soufiane Ouissi falls into that category. As extraordinary as their physical presence on a dark stage is, without explanations beforehand and a Q&A afterwards, it all says precious little.

Is that bad?

Young Talent Performance (Fugaz Floor)

Talent development new buzzword in dance world: 3 encouraging initiatives

The fact that it is difficult to get a job after graduation is also well known in the dance world. Therefore, partly at the government's insistence, companies are focusing on talent development. They also hope for a better connection with schools. Young dancers are now more likely to be on the front line of ballet: the theatre, and that is good news for audiences. Because the energy is fresh and the level has advanced considerably.

Whether a better connection between school and company is really going to solve all the problems is no...

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Boukje Schweigman's wordless philosophy

Even before she graduated from mime school, Boukje Schweigman swore off language. She worked out a wordless philosophy in her performances. She seeks the mystery of life. However vast and elusive her starting points may be, her performances give the audience the most direct, immediate, skin-tight sensation imaginable in a theatre.

From 12 November, Boukje Schweigman and her group Schweigman& will tour Dutch theatres with their own festival: H...

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Dutch Dance Days Prize nominations: Cecilia Moisio, Giulio d'Anna and Melissa Ellberger

Young choreographers Cecilia Moisio, Giulio d'Anna and Melissa Ellberger have been nominated for the Prize of the Netherlands Dance Days Maastricht 2013.

 

Cecilia Moisio - photo Jamain Brigitha

Cecilia Moisio gained fame as a dancer in works by Ann van den Broek and others. For some years now, she has also been creating her own work. Juxtapose, the choreography she was nominated for, is a witty but also biting performance....

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I Like To Watch Too is a must for keeping the performing arts in the Netherlands young and fresh

A man and a woman dance passionately in the hall of Paradiso. Such an experimental dance performance is unusual for the Amsterdam pop palace. Yet the festival I Like To Watch Too right here. Many people feel a barrier towards this kind of performance, but here there is just the right 'in and out' atmosphere to make avant-garde art something you can just look at and that always triggers something in you.

I Like To Watch Too throws open doors to experimental dance

Isn't avant garde dance too lofty? Is it still viable in these harsh cultural times? I Like To Watch Too aims to dispel this misconception. The festival brings experimental dance closer to the public than ever.

Suzy Blok put together I Like To Watch Too for the seventh time already. Throughout the year, she scouted performances by young dance makers. 'Apart from high dance quality, my criterion was that they should be physical performances with high performance quality. ...

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The Pyre: taut, disruptive performance by Gisele Vienne @HollandFestival

Holland Festival

Those who suffer from the misconception that dance is about beauty are mercilessly disabused of the dream by Gisele Vienne ...

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Ivo van Hove is God. According to New Yorkers.

Anyway: while Amsterdam's city newspaper Parool was embarking on a campaign against the Dutch capital's city company at the behest of the Flemish publishing board, the same Toneelgroep Amsterdam was winning the hearts of New York audiences with a production of the already years-old 'Roman Tragedies', which a few here did not even like overall: http://www.wijbrandschaap.nl/2007/06/romeinse-tragedies-hf2007ta/

No sour sounds in America so far. This sam...

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New impetus by young dance talent at PUNCH! Festival

PUNCH! is a fantastic festival. It shows how much beauty, news and surprise emerge when the line between dance and performance is dissolved. PUNCH! promotes a refreshing view of the world and shakes loose entrenched interpretations. The young dance makers and performers show tremendous originality and creativity that you will not only enjoy watching, you will go... 

Paradiso full of dance energy at I Like To Watch Too

I Like To Watch Too: abundance of performances shows that dance and performance are powerfully connected to modern society. The dance steps rain down on you even before you have entered Paradiso. Tim Boerlijst tap-dances on the pavement. This infectious welcome immediately draws visitors into the atmosphere of 'I Like To Watch Too'. This festival showcases dance and performance from... 

William Kentridge & the dress rehearsal for the Holocaust

With Black Box / Chambre Noire, the Jewish Historical Museum presents the first exhibition by South African artist William Kentridge in the Netherlands. A multimedia artwork about the first genocide of the 20th century. Now on show at the Jewish Historical Museum.

Armed with clubs, two dark shadowy figures beat each other's brains out. And then a third victim, kneeling and unarmed, who shatters into pieces after the blows. In the background is music

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