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Jeffrey Meulman van Theaterfestival naar Verkadefabriek: ‘We moeten weer een alternatief circuit ontwikkelen’

Toen Jeffrey Meulman (52) in 2005 aantrad als directeur van het Theaterfestival, moest het publieksvriendelijker worden. In plaats van een presentatie van ‘het meest belangwekkende theater’ wilde het bestuur dat hem aanzocht een feest van het mooiste theater maken. Meulman ging aan het werk, met succes, maar het belangrijkste wat hij deed, was het oprichten van een ‘fringe’: een alternatief… 

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'Bring all the venues in Amersfoort together in one management group.' Bernard van Gellekom has an unorthodox vision of cultural survival at the time of Corona.

'If you can put only a quarter, or even less, in a hall that normally holds 600 people, then the tickets do become very expensive, because your costs don't change. Then my popular heart starts beating again: should we really want something so elitist?' Bernard van Gellekom is an important figure in the Amersfoort pop scene. In his home... 

Read More "'Bring all the venues in Amersfoort together in one management group.' Bernard van Gellekom has an unorthodox vision of cultural survival at the time of Corona.

All power to the city! Culture Council's opinion dissected into 9 opportunities and 10 threats

When the Council for Culture released its long-awaited musical advice a month ago, its president Marijke van Hees was remarkably nervous. This was particularly evident in her choice to act as moderator at her own presentation. When there, at Amsterdam's Allard Pierson Museum, came (very mild) criticism of the advice, she shot to the defence. That became... 

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What is it with the dance sector in Amsterdam? Once again, a 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)... 

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Culture Council wants review of system, but cautious 'Theatre Sector Opinion' is licence for arbitrariness by House of Representatives

Today, the Culture Council comes out with one of the weaker advices in its existence. The Netherlands' highest cultural advisory body showed vision, leadership and boldness earlier this season with the 'Verkenning' and the 'Sectoradvies Muziek'. The exploration called for a reversal of subsidy flows, with urban regions taking the initiative. In the advice for the music sector, it broke... 

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Moving Futures in Amsterdam: young talent shows playful dance about identity

The Amsterdam version of the Moving Futures festival 2017 has begun. For four days, young dance makers show all sides of their creativity. I experienced a cosmic journey with (SHIFT), was cheered by Third Culture Kid by Joseph Simons and saw the excitement slumped a little by a piano at the end of Your Mother at my Door by Timothy and... 

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Moving Futures festival zoekt nieuw publiek voor moderne dans

‘Veel mensen vinden hedendaagse dans moeilijk. Vooral voorstellingen van jonge makers die experimenteren en nieuwe wegen zoeken. Op het Moving Futures festival kan iedereen ontdekken hoe dans je kan raken. We doen dit niet alleen door goede voorstellingen van jonge makers te laten zien. We bieden ook activiteiten eromheen, contextprogramma’s. Daarmee geven we het publiek handvatten om een verbinding te leggen met… 

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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... 

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Ronald Wintjens. Foto: Tycho Merijn Roest

Ronald Wintjens: ‘Meer gezicht voor jeugddans en performance art op Dansdagen.’

‘Er is niet alleen werk verdwenen, maar ook kennis en ambacht – het hele perspectief verdwijnt. Terwijl Nederland als dansland vermaard was in de wereld, juist omdat het de luxe had om te onderzoeken, op te bouwen, te stimuleren.’ Ronald Wintjes, de kersverse directeur van De Nederlandse Dansdagen, maakt zich zorgen. Hoe zit het met de toekomst van de dans?… 

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Culture Council fill-in exercise offers hardly any surprises

Champagne at BAK in Utrecht, deep disappointment at The New Institute in Rotterdam: the Council for Culture has spoken. Today, Thursday 19 May 2016, the first advice after the draconian art cuts by the first Rutte cabinet came out, and heads are rolling. Amsterdam loses prestigious presentation institution De Appel, in The Hague fellow institution Stroom has to redo its homework. The Orkest van het Oosten and the Gelders Orkest have to come up with merger plans within two years. In Utrecht, the city company Theater Utrecht will no longer receive funding despite artistic appreciation. Het Zuidelijk Toneel in Eindhoven Tilburg must make new plans and Opera Zuid must quickly raise its artistic quality. These are the main conclusions of the Culture Council's opinion.

As dramatic as some of this may sound, the advice is actually not, when you look over the whole battlefield. Thanks in part to

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What is the relevance of contemporary dance?

Last weekend's workshop The Relevance of Dance, organised by Dansmakers Amsterdam and the European Dance House Network, sought to answer the question: What is the relevance of contemporary dance art for audiences? Suzy Blok, general director of Dansmakers Amsterdam, opened the atelier by talking about the desire of production houses to bring dance more to the... 

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Dutch Dance Days show artistic challenge only on fringes of programme

The first weekend of October saw the Netherlands Dance Days (NDD) take place in Maastricht. As Ruben Brugman reported, important prizes for the dance world are awarded there. But the Dance Days seem mainly meant to promote Dutch dance, more than to be a critical evaluation or artistic boost. At the Dance Days, no pithy speech on the State of Dance as... 

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Chamber listens to culture sector. And hears nothing new.

Five hours of talks with more than 30 invited guests. That's what the Round Table discussion on the 'Principles of Cultural Policy 2017-2020' offered. There was hardly any debate. It consisted mainly of repeating one's own views, but very carefully so as not to offend anyone. The chairman mainly watched the clock. The debate in five quotes. "How do we do it? Very simple: about the... 

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Disaster at Grand Theatre mainly due to supervision failure

We took another close look at the news surrounding the near bankruptcy of Groningen's illustrious Grand Theatre. Yesterday, it became clear that that theatre is in serious financial trouble. Problems that the municipality does not want to solve simply by an extra injection of thousands of euros. And they are right. After all, the Grand's coffers are as leaky as... 

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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... 

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8 essentiële lessen die Nederlandse theaters kunnen leren van festivals – en omgekeerd

Dalende bezoekersaantallen, krimpende subsidies, verschraling van de programmering: de meeste Nederlandse theaters hebben het moeilijk, bleek onlangs uit onderzoek door NRC Handelsblad. De schouwburgen verwelkomden in 2012 twaalf miljoen bezoekers volgens de NRC-cijfers, een kwart minder dan in 2008. Festivals zitten juist in de lift. Er worden er steeds meer georganiseerd, en ze trekken steeds meer volk – in totaal… 

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8 million for talent development, but 4 tough problems remain

Culture minister Jet Bussemaker can again make up for the cultural devastation caused by her predecessor Halbe Zijlstra. As promised earlier, money will be freed up for talent development. This was a demand of the chamber and a wish of the country. Are we happy? Of course. Although happy, there are also a few things that remain troublesome. [Tweet "1 Develop... 

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Ayn Rand spookte al in 2006 door het Nederlandse theater.

Ivo van Hove heeft niet alleen een toneelstuk gemaakt op basis van Ayn Rands ideeënroman The Fountainhead. In 2006 wilde de artistiek leider van Toneelgroep Amsterdam er zelfs een heel nieuwe inrichting van het toneelbestel op baseren. 8 jaar later kunnen we constateren dat alleen de negatieve kanten van Van Hove’s visioen zijn gerealiseerd.

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Lower chamber talked about art. We followed the debate for you

We kept a liveblog. Nice and old-fashioned, from the days when every month there was uproar somewhere about the government's handling of art. Now there is peace in the tent, as the PVV sardonically points out, because 'The Left' is now the bearer of policies devised by the PVV. The PVV predicts a black future for 'The Left' once the PVV comes to power.

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NRC doesn't count right: not 11, but at least 34 groups gone due to cuts

Volgens NRC Handelsblad werden de bezuinigingen op cultuur voor ‘slechts’ 11 theaterinstellingen fataal. Zij gaan hierbij uit van groepen die zichzelf daadwerkelijk opgeheven hebben. In hun overzicht zien zij echter de gezelschappen die zich vrijwillig hebben opgeheven door te fuseren met een ander gezelschap over het hoofd. Daarnaast zijn er een aantal instellingen die zichzelf al voor de nieuwe ronde hebben opgeheven, omdat al duidelijk was dat ze geen geld zouden krijgen. Rekenen we die wel mee, komen we op zeker 34 gezelschappen. Dat is nu al 25% van het aanbod van vóór de bezuinigingen.

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Art for all: €3 per person, per month

The discussion was and is endless, but now we have figures. Thanks to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science's new 'key figures', we now know how much the state (all of us) are spending for the opportunity to experience art: per inhabitant, the state spends 38.90 per year on subsidies for dance, theatre, museums, youth theatre, opera and orchestras. So that's just over 3 euros a month. Indeed something to get into each other's hair about, we think.

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