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The 1 per cent and the concert hall; classical music as a henchman of the rich against 'the 99 per cent'

While anti-capitalists were plotting to occupy Amsterdam's Beursplein this week - if you can at least put the protesters under that heading - in the US, anger over THE 99 PERCENT shifted to the concert hall. The discussion flared up in response to two events. Wall Street was occupied; and the Metropolitan Opera received $182 million in donations in one year, a record amount.... 

According to US film magazine, our Oscar entry does not stand a chance

It is not very often that Dutch films attract the attention of the film trade magazine Screen International. Now that the web edition ScreenDaily happens to publish two reviews in a row, it is nice to quote something from them. Among Us Screen editor-in-chief Mike Goodridge saw Dutch Oscar contender Sonny Boy and Marco van Geffen's debut film Among Us (international title Among Us) and came... 

Director of Dance Days Maastricht: "I really feel supported by Mayor Onno Hoes."

The Dutch Dance Days are not yet a mad hive of dance, but for Maastricht they are increasingly a fun tourist attraction. Day trippers and weekend tourists come from all over the country to combine the delights of the South with those of the art of dance. For that matter, all of Maastricht seems to float on VVV leaflets. In this sphere of promotion, is there still room for... 

Record amount of donations for New York Metropolitan Opera, but ticket sales down for years

The New York Times reports that the Metropolitan Opera in New York has brought in record donations this fiscal year. The tally stands at $182 million. This is 50 per cent more than the previous year. However, revenue from ticket sales has been declining for a few years. In addition, since general manager Peter Gelb took office, spending patterns are soaring.... 

Red Bull: the ideal power boost for languishing museums?

"If 1 person can prove that by collaborating with Red Bull, a sixteenth-century painting thins out or falls off the wall, I will stop working on it immediately." Edwin Jacobs, director of Centraal Museum Utrecht, opened his doors to the soft drink manufacturer. Under the title 'Art of Can', the museum is exhibiting artworks made from Red Bull cans. "Red Bull gives you wings,... 

Jacob Derwig and Elsie de Brauw receive 2011's top drama awards

On Sunday evening 11 September, the VSCD Drama Awards, the VSCD Mime Prize, the VSCD Youth Theatre Awards and the AVRO Toneel Publieksprijs 2011 were presented at the Gala van het Nederlands Theater. And that you then know that VSCD stands for the Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors and AVRO for General Free Radio Broadcasting. The award for the best male lead of the past... 

Kick off subsidy addiction requires greater government effort than Zijlstra wants

Bart de Liefde's tweet Arts organisations are subsidy-addicted and so we are withdrawing subsidies. The VVD's approach is clear. On the exact how, they appear to need to think longer about that, now that there is so much opposition from the country. Cold Turkey, the treatment proposed by tolerance partner (nice word in this context) PVV, could well... 

Almost had Halbe Zijlstra praising a drummer as a figurehead of our literature

Nice, that secretary of state of hard rock and Tom Clancy. Mr Halbe Zijlstra-san has once again lived up to his change manager name in China. But in a slightly different way. In the land of eternally sealed mouths, he opened the Dutch stand at the book fair there, with a speech that once again rammed Dutch values into the Chinese. Anyway... 

Rotterdam alderman shocks cultural sector over total lack of knowledge

'And why do all these art institutions have to open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and even Thursdays? I don't understand that. I'm far too busy working on those days.' Just a question during the Paradiso Debate, the annual closing event of Amsterdam's Uitmarkt. And normally, you can expect these kinds of questions from the audience after a couple of beers, but this question came from the Alderman of Culture of Rotterdam, a city of several hundred thousand inhabitants.

This...

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'Conceptual thundering won't get you far in London': guest column Teunkie v.d. Sluijs

"I can fire anyone here. Except the actors." Sam Walters, artistic director of London production house the Orange Tree Theatre does not mince words. "Everyone in the office could leave. The directors too. But without actors no performance." The actor is unequivocally central to this theatre. As a director, you only prove yourself here when you get top performances out of your... 

Unofficial, self-appointed 'City of Amsterdam playwright' still needs 7500 euros

The ANP brought it and all newspapers typed it up: 'Amsterdam gets a City playwright'. Big news, of course. After all: the theatre is rather under pressure as an expensive leftist hobby, so it would be nice if the Amsterdam city council had decided, together with the theatre world, to establish a city playwright, alongside the city poet and the poet of the fatherland, An honorary title, would... 

Smart idea by theatre Bellevue Amsterdam: babysitting for the kids

It's so simple that you think: why didn't we think of this before? After all, expensive inner-city restaurants already park your car in front of you and hang up your coat. So why just also arrange a babysitter for the stay-at-home kids? For now, Amsterdam's Theater Bellevue has the scoop. When ordering a kart (on pre-sale, of course), you can take the theatre... 

Delft opens with fewer chamber music surprises than other years

For another 15 years, the Delft Chamber Music Festival, so named to reflect its international character, has encompassed 15 years. Violinist Isabelle van Keulen handled the chamber music festival's programming for the first ten years, Lisa Ferschtmann - also a violinist - took over from her five years ago. But even this already successful festival fears the upcoming budget cuts. A pity, because what... 

Loyal festival-goer doesn't let his festival go down the drain

Photo: Erik van 't Hof Rain, rain, rain. That looks bad for festivals. Right? "The weather is less of an influence on a festival than people think," says Mark Hospers of Noorderzon. And they should know. Last year they had a lot of rain, and at the same time sold a record number of tickets. How could it be that bad weather affected the... 

Ingmar Bergman becomes opera at Grachtenfestival

Amsterdam, 1999. Studying Theatre Science, first-year theatre analysis class. I sit with notepad and pen clutched in fingers, making indecipherable notes. Halfway through the lecture, Sjaron Minailo (Tel Aviv, 1979) saunters in, dressed in a huge fur coat, with big Gucci sunglasses and dreadlocks. With a sigh, he plops into the back lecture bench, hears three sentences of the disrupted lecturer's speech 

Eszter Salamon and Daniel Linehan gems of highly diverse Julidans

Holland Festival, Julidans, IT's, Over 't IJ. End-of-season theatre is always strewn across Amsterdam. Between April and September, international performance offerings migrate from Utrecht (Springdance and Festival aan de Werf) via Amsterdam to Rotterdam (Internationale Keuze). If you want to experience something of contemporary, international dance, Springdance, HF and Julidans are the places to be. [For... 

Theatre Institute Netherlands to continue as museum, perhaps in Arnhem

Clever, of course, but also perilous. Although - hanging over the abyss - there will be little else to do, but turn the TIN (Theatre Institute of the Netherlands) into a Performing Arts Museum. From 2013, because then the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science's money tap will close. In doing so, the institute will implement a rescue plan that will at least save the collection. Whether this will also save the... 

Successful Holland Festival closes record edition amid uncertainty over future

Photo: Pierre Nydegger To conclude. The 2011 Holland Festival could well be historic. Not only was it the festival that attracted the most audiences for years, it was also the festival that took place while a minority government of populists, nationalists and materialists proclaimed the end of art subsidies. We therefore look back on a festival in which we were able to meet with... 

#HF11: We chat with Jeroen Stout, Daniël Bertina, Fransien vd Putt and Wijbrand Schaap.

  In conclusion. The 2011 Holland Festival could well be historic. Not only was it the festival that attracted the most audiences for years, it was also the festival that took place while a minority government of populists, nationalists and materialists proclaimed the end of art subsidies. We therefore look back on a festival in which we had a great time with our new... 

Photo: Jochem Jurgens

The Kiss and DUS in final stage award nominations

The Utrecht Games (DUS), with its successful production August Oklahoma, immediately wins three nominations for the theatre awards to be handed out in September: Ria Eimers for best female lead, and Peter Bolhuis and Tjitsjke Reidinga compete for the prizes for best supporting actress. Percentage-wise, however, much more successful than DUS is De Kus, a production by Hummelinck Stuurman, because there the... 

Cultural policy Rutte cabinet advised against by patrons and entrepreneurs; PVV absent from hearing on future of Dutch culture

This is an infographic from a series made by Abel, Niels and Willem at Mediamatic. Based on an idea by Ruben Pater. Actually, there was only one compliment for the cabinet, which is in the process of cutting an average 30% from a sector that employs tens of thousands of Dutch people. During the hearing convened by the second chamber on Monday 20 June, the... 

A few solid misses, interspersed with plenty of indispensable beauty in week 3 of the Holland Festival #hf11

The Dodo was busy, this third week of the Holland Festival. Thankfully, again with an exciting mix of beautiful, weird and extraordinary. As it should be, really. What makes the Holland Festival all the more exciting is that such extremes can sometimes take place within one programme, as with the National Ballet, or even within one performance, as with The Russians... 

#HF11 Thomas Adès sails his own ship and steers across familiar waters with new compositions

The ark as the earth, as a spaceship carrying us through the chaos of the universe to a safe haven. The pole star as the apparent magnetic centre of the universe around which all the stars revolve. No, this is not woolly new age chatter, these are the starting points for Tevot and Polaris, two major orchestral works by Thomas Adès, which had their Dutch premiere under the composer's own direction.

#HF11 Dreamy cult pop and visual feast from The Irrepressibles

The Irrepressibles with their Human Music Box. Photo Patricia Niven At the request of the Holland Festival, Jamie McDermott of The Irrepressibles created a new programme: Human Music Box. The ten-piece British band will start its world tour in Amsterdam. The premiere on Friday 17 June at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ became an understated, musical evening that was especially visually appealing. In... 

#HF11 The National Ballet opts for aesthetic wandering and exotic pictures

Photo Joris Jan Bos 'Labyrinth' is the name of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's choreography. Mazes intrigue because you can get lost in them and then insist on finding the exit. Along the way, a person then has all kinds of revealing experiences about himself. But Cherkaoui does not get to this passage. He immediately starts with symbolism. A dancer holds a wide band that... 

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