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Enno Poppe looks for the most elementary particle of the drum kit #novembermusic

The drum kit is pop music's most important instrument. German composer Enno Poppe, who grew up without pop music, has a fascination for percussion. A new work can be heard during November Music this year: Streik. Composed for 10 drums. I spoke to the 1969-born composer about this work and his inspiration. Listen to the podcast: What immediately... 

Guilherme Miotto: "Dance is an evolution, not a revolution" 

"We all want to play, but labels sometimes make that difficult. Then you start doubting your qualities." Instead, Dutch and Brazilian choreographer Guilherme Miotto (45) wants to break down boundaries and make art accessible to everyone. On Thursday 24 October, his double performance 'Unpunished Youth x Poles' can be seen at Festival Circolo in Tilburg. Guilherme Miotto is more interested in what makes us... 

Anika Baines: "Burlesque and striptease are a power play for me" #circolo

She sometimes sees people drop out when she tells them that her performance is inspired by burlesque. "They often have certain preconceptions about this and think it's 'something only dirty men want to see'." It remains difficult to convince people to take the first step and attend a burlesque show, says Baines. The twenty-two-year-old South African loves... 

What if everyone is the boss? Acrobats find confidence in working collectively on 'Meander'

It is mouse-still in the studio auditorium of Korzo in The Hague. A few dozen spectators in the stands, a tangle of bodies on stage, shuffling, sighing and exerting their utmost strength, sliding, climbing and balancing on, over and under each other. Impressive, sensual too, this continuous movement that does not run from applause moment to applause moment, but rather lets you breathlessly follow how it... 

'The past has a strong influence on the present and the future'. Juan Gómez Bárcena wrote a novel about world history in an insignificant Spanish village

Zelfs in een piepklein gehucht waar ogenschijnlijk niets te beleven valt, ligt de wereldgeschiedenis aan – of beter gezegd: onder – je voeten. In zijn bijzondere roman Het dorp van de herinneringen weeft Juan Gómez Bárcena (39) eeuwen aan verhalen door elkaar heen. ‘Ik vind het heerlijk om mezelf flink uit te dagen bij het schrijven.’ Meer koeien dan inwoners Een dorpje… 

Writer Javier Zamora ©Apollo Fields

Writer Javier Zamora fled motherless alone from El Salvador to the US as a child: 'Only now do I sometimes feel happy'

When he was nine, Javier Zamora (33) travelled with the help of people smugglers from El Salvador to the United States, where his parents had been living for several years. For two months, he had no contact with his family and no one knew where he was. The deep marks this journey left only healed two decades later, partly through the writing of his memoir Solito.... 

Joris Linssen, photo by Jerney Hakkenberg

'I need others to flourish.' Six life insights from TV presenter Joris Linssen

In zijn leven en werk maakt de bekende presentator Joris Linssen (1966) veel mee en ontmoet hij tal van bijzondere mensen. De levensinzichten die hij daarbij heeft opgedaan heeft hij gebundeld in zijn net verschenen boek Als je met de stroom meegaat, sta je wel stil. ‘Als je durft te kiezen voor avontuur, word je daarvoor beloond.’ Van risico’s nemen word… 

José Kuijpers and Helmert Woudenberg in Blind. Photo Jean Philipse.

'If someone has to be in charge, why not the writer?' Helmert Woudenberg and José Kuijpers star in writer Lot Vekemans' directorial debut 'Blind' 

"What I really like is that Lot Vekemans, the writer, sees and hears how some texts just don't go, or don't do it. I would grant that to more writers." Actress José Kuijpers plays alongside Helmert Woudenberg in Lot Vekemans' play Blind. The play will premiere at the Brabant company Matzer on 22 October. Vekemans is... 

Sabine Maringer (screenshot podcast)

What the (circus) world can learn from sex worker Sabine Maringer #circolo2023

"I think you can apply this idea of consent culture to families, friends, leisure groups, anywhere, if you like." On Friday 13 October 2023, Tilburg's Circus Festival Circolo will open with a seminar on the premises of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences. Keynote speaker at that seminar is Sabine Marringer. She will come with a special message, she announced: "I sent... 

screenshot from the poscast. Left: Lucho Smit.

Lucho Smit is the new artistic director of Circus Festival Circolo: "Our festival will become even more of a place for encounters between creators, students, audiences and society."

"My accent, my heart is with the people involved in circus. I therefore want to put them at the centre." Lucho Smit (1983) has been artistic director of Tilburg circus festival Circolo, which starts on 13 October, since April this year. He wants to put the festival, which has been around for 15 years, in the middle of the... 

The Virgin Mary as a woman of flesh and blood. Handsome debut novel by Dieuwertje Mertens

It is sometimes said of reviewers that they actually wish they were writers themselves. A cliché, of course, but perhaps also somewhat true. Dieuwertje Mertens (1983), literary critic for Het Parool, laughs affirmatively. "Yes, look, I have written a book, so it is clear that I also want to be an author. But not instead of. I like very much... 

Writer Laura Restrepo ©Elena Restrepo

'The Queen of Saba was a migrant.' 'Song of old lovers': a rich, engaging and intelligent novel by Laura Restrepo

The work of Colombian writer Laura Restrepo (73) has long been forgotten in the Netherlands. With her new, impressive novel Song of old lovers, she makes a well-deserved comeback. She already has 13 novels to her name. Yet Colombian writer Laura Restrepo, who lives largely in Spain, is a fairly unknown to most Dutch... 

'This is me, listen to me, look at me!' Frank interview with Erwin Olaf on life, love and death

This week, photographer Erwin Olaf died, aged 64. Just before his 60th birthday, we interviewed him about his work, his life and love. Olaf also spoke candidly about his illness, how it forced him to make choices ánd made him milder. 'I am in renewal,' he said. And: 'In my life, I have done everything I wanted to do.' 

PR image by David van Delden

Faizah Grootens: Corpus Criolla enriches modern dance with essential Caribbean vibes on #TFBoulevard

"I select dancers very carefully. I don't do auditions. I don't believe in anyone having to prove themselves in front of the others. So that's why I take quite a long time to choose who I want to work with. If I choose that person, we go for it 100%. No matter what." Corpus Criolla is a fascinating dance performance in which Caribbean... 

PR image Desire

Podcast! Louis Janssens on 'Desire': 'It's nice to be personal, but I don't want to make a diary play, so I also lie quite often.' #TFBOULEVARD

Louis Janssens is a young, ambitious theatre-maker from Flanders. With a string of rave reviews behind his name, he seems to have effortlessly found his place in the theatre world. This year, he is a prominent guest at Theatre Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch. His latest play, 'Desire', will premiere at the Verkadefabriek on 3 August. The play highlights the delicate... 

Writer Richard Osinga ©Keke Keukelaar

A puzzle with time. Richard Osinga's cruel but also loving new novel 'Coin'

Some writers are at the forefront, others write their novels in the lee. Richard Osinga (51) belongs to the latter category. With each book, he gains in eloquence. Mint is the new shoot on the stem of his increasingly interesting oeuvre. At one point, Richard Osinga himself was a little too lazy. After his novel... 

Writer Nhung Dam is increasingly embracing her Vietnamese roots. 'My background is also a gift.'

Writer and theatre-maker Nhung Dam (38) tried to be as Dutch as possible, but is increasingly embracing her Vietnamese roots. Because these are precisely what make her unique, she now realises, and offer a wealth of stories. Including for her second novel, Definition of Love. Two worlds Nhung Dam (38) more or less grew up in two worlds. Her cradle was in... 

Author's photo - Niccolò Ammaniti

Niccolò Ammaniti on his new book and protagonist: 'I had actually fallen a bit in love with her'

In his new novel, Italian bestselling author Niccolò Ammaniti (56) wittily holds up a mirror to modern man. His protagonist, the wife of the Italian prime minister, is afraid of being blackmailed with a sex video. "I don't know if I would have the same courage as her in such a situation," he says. Storytelling fun With novels like I Pick You Up, I Take You and I... 

Still from trailer Carmina Burana

A Ukrainian Carmina Burana with an Amersfoort touch, thanks to Gerard Mosterd.

'Carmina Burana is the first project in Ukraine where I had a free hand to really turn it into something completely different. I didn't have to adapt an existing production, but could create a whole new performance from scratch.' Gerard Mosterd (1964) has a long career behind him as a dancer and choreographer. Now he is also a producer of... 

Spanish writer Fernando Aramburu ©Iván Giménez Tusquets Editores

What would our lives be like if we knew at birth when we were going to die? Fernando Aramburu on his new novel 'Counting the days'

Met zijn vorige roman Vaderland veroverde de Spaanse auteur Fernando Aramburu de harten van lezers in heel Europa. De bestseller over de gevolgen van het geweld door de Baskische afscheidingsbeweging ETA, werd driemaal bekroond en HBO bewerkte het boek tot een televisieserie. Zijn nieuwe, Het tellen van de dagen, is een intiemer verhaal, over een man die besluit over een… 

Benefiet Oekraïne: Light and Darkness

Geen gemakkelijke opdracht in de dansvoorstelling Benefiet Oekraïne: Light in Darkness

Dansers zijn buitengewone wezens. Neem Vlad Detiuchenko en Veronika Rakitina. Vorig jaar gevlucht van Kyiv naar Den Haag, dansen ze nu allebei in de voorstelling van voorheen prima ballerina van Het Nationale Ballet Igone de Jongh. Ze reizen ermee van Den Helder tot Eindhoven, en organiseren eigenhandig de voorstelling op 21 maart a.s. Benefiet Oekraïne: Light in Darkness. Ik zocht de… 

scene image by Kurt van der Elst

Pregnancy director Nina Spijkers was challenging The National Theatre on completion of Coriolanus

"That's what I'm going to tell Nina first, that afterwards the young women were the first to stand up and applaud and yell with enthusiasm for our Coriolanus." Remco van Rijn, dramaturg at The National Theatre, speaking after a try-out, just before the premiere of Coriolanus on 18 February. And Nina = Nina Spijkers, the original director of the play What... 

Bestselling author Maria Dueñas wrote a sequel about spy Sira Quiroga: 'She had to suffer a little'

Haar debuutroman Het geluid van de nacht, waarin de eenvoudige naaister Sira Quiroga uitgroeide tot spionne voor de Britse geheime dienst, werd tien jaar geleden een wereldwijde bestseller. Nu is de Spaanse schrijfster María Dueñas (58) met een nieuwe roman waarin ze Sira het vuur aan de schenen legt. ‘Ze moest wel een beetje lijden.’ Tweede deel Vanwege het enigszins… 

Erik Whien moves on the inclusion wave, in dialogue

Directeur Alida Dors zet bij Theater Rotterdam in op inclusie. Wat betekent dit voor een 44-jarige witte regisseur met groot succes met een traditioneel publiek, zoals nu met ‘Verdriet is het ding met veren’? Een vraaggesprek. “Het theater van Erik Whien draait om de mens. Om het hoofd en alles wat daarin gebeurt. Elk mens heeft gedachten, in de geest… 

November Music presents Music Hub Night: 'This collaboration is truly a Brabant thing' #novembermusic

FLEMMING, Remme, Nona, Sanne Rambags and Rianne Wilbers. Names that are not unknown to residents of Brabant. These young artists were supported in their musical and personal development by the Music Hub Brabant programme. This one-year post-master trajectory focuses on the development of ten young creators. Each talent follows a tailor-made development path and is... 

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