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T H E D U T C H O N T O U R - Theater Instituut Nederland

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THE DUTCH ON TOUR Drama and (youth ) dance


Drama and<br />

The Dutch on tour<br />

(youth) dance


Index<br />

5 Foreword<br />

6 Dance<br />

12 Andrea Bozic<br />

14 André Gingras<br />

16 anoukvandijk dc<br />

18 Bollwerk<br />

20 Bruno Listopad<br />

22 Club Guy & Roni<br />

24 Conny Janssen Danst<br />

26 Dance Works Rotterdam<br />

28 Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel<br />

30 Dansity Amsterdam<br />

32 Emio Greco | PC<br />

34 Het Nationale Ballet<br />

36 Introdans<br />

38 Leine & Roebana<br />

40 Lisa<br />

42 Nanine Linning<br />

44 <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong><br />

46 NND/Galili Dance<br />

48 Scapino Ballet<br />

50 T.r.a.s.h.<br />

52 Production houses: : Dansateliers,<br />

Danshuis Station Zuid, DansWerkplaats<br />

Amsterdam, Korzo producties<br />

108 Colophon<br />

56 Youth dance<br />

58 Danstheater AYA<br />

60 David Middendorp<br />

62 De Stilte<br />

64 Introdans Ensemble voor de Jeugd<br />

66 ISH<br />

68 Jeugddanstheater Plankenkoorts<br />

70 Meekers Uitgesproken Dans<br />

72 Merkx & Dansers<br />

74 Drama<br />

80 Dood Paard<br />

82 Female Economy Foundation<br />

84 MC<br />

86 Nieuw West<br />

88 Noord <strong>Nederland</strong>s Toneel<br />

90 Onafhankelijk Toneel/Opera O.T.<br />

(music theatre)<br />

92 Orkater (music theatre)<br />

94 PIPS:lab<br />

96 RO <strong>Theater</strong><br />

98 <strong>Theater</strong> Rast<br />

100 Toneelgroep Amsterdam<br />

102 Toneelgroep Oostpool<br />

104 Veenfabriek (music theatre)<br />

106 Wunderbaum<br />

The Dutch on tour Index


Foreword<br />

Dear Reader,<br />

Dutch drama and dance are popular in other countries. This is not only true of the big names,<br />

such as <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong> or Johan Simons and Ivo van Hove, but also of the smaller<br />

companies and theatre-makers from the new generation. The Dutch tradition in diversity and<br />

small-scale theatre goes back for decades. This applies to all disciplines, aimed at both adults<br />

and young people: drama, dance, expressive theatre, site-specific theatre and so on.<br />

<strong>Theater</strong> <strong>Instituut</strong> <strong>Nederland</strong> (TIN) has an equally long tradition in promoting Dutch theatre<br />

at home in the Netherlands and abroad. It is our job to keep the international theatre world<br />

up-to-date on developments in the Netherlands by means of publications, DVDs, our website,<br />

electronic newsletters, the international visitors’ programme and showcases.<br />

This edition of The Dutch on tour (with accompanying DVD) is a good example of how we work.<br />

In compiling this publication, we made a very conscious selection: the companies mentioned<br />

(and their productions) all have international experience or international ambition that we are<br />

keen to support. They are companies that have already made an impression, or are set to make<br />

one, on the international stage. In the first book we focused on physical, site-specific, object<br />

and youth theatre, in this book the focus lies on drama and (youth) dance.<br />

This publication is designed to provide information and hopefully stimulate (budding) enthusiasm.<br />

The next step is to see a live performance for yourself, get to know the companies and<br />

the makers or find out more about the possibility of programming Dutch theatre and dance on<br />

your podium or at your festival. Please do not hesitate to contact my colleagues at the <strong>Theater</strong><br />

<strong>Instituut</strong> <strong>Nederland</strong>. We are here to provide information and facilities, including for international<br />

collaboration opportunities. And we are very happy to do this.<br />

Henk Scholten<br />

Director <strong>Theater</strong> <strong>Instituut</strong> <strong>Nederland</strong><br />

The Dutch on tour Foreword


Dutch choreographers<br />

lead audiences a merry<br />

dance<br />

In recent years, Dutch dance has been given every opportunity to develop to its full potential. <strong>Nederland</strong>s<br />

Dans <strong>Theater</strong> and Emio Greco | PC are among the companies that have earned themselves<br />

high-ranking positions on the international dance scene. Dutch companies and choreographers<br />

increasingly reflect these developments in the dance world by performing on international stages and<br />

at foreign festivals or by working with dance artists from other countries. So what sets Dutch dance<br />

apart from the rest? What inspires Dutch choreographers to develop their talents in the field of dance?<br />

Het Nationale Ballet paid tribute to choreographer Hans van Manen on his 75th birthday in 2007<br />

by organizing a large-scale Hans van Manen festival, featuring highlights from not only his own<br />

work with Het Nationale Ballet, but also that of other internationally renowned companies. The<br />

company presented a number of traditional classics such as Romeo & Julia, Coppelia and The<br />

Sleeping Beauty. But young talent from Het Nationale Ballet’s own stable was also given a chance.<br />

More and more frequently, repertoire companies such as Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Dansgroep<br />

Krisztina de Châtel, Introdans and Galili Dance invite young dance-makers to create work for<br />

them. The trend seems to be gaining momentum. <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong> also presents<br />

choreographies devised by budding talent incorporated into work by experienced makers such<br />

as Jiří Kylián or Lightfoot Léon. These days, developing talent is high on the agenda of many<br />

well-established companies.<br />

This theme, which has crept gradually to the forefront, partly inspired the current variety in<br />

Dutch dance. The traditional search for an individual movement idiom, which dominated Dutch<br />

dancing for many years, has faded into the background. Dance is a perfect medium for working<br />

together and experimenting with other disciplines. Music and expressive art are inextricably<br />

intertwined with the development of the art of dance. But script has also become a must in the<br />

performances of many choreographers, whether spoken or projected onto a video screen.<br />

The Dutch on tour (Youth) dance


Current affairs feature more prominently on the dance stage. Alongside universal themes such<br />

as human motivation, love and death, global developments and trends in image and popular<br />

culture are also translated into dance productions. Science appears to form an eternal source<br />

of inspiration for Dutch choreographers. They organize workshops, interview scientists or invite<br />

them to the studio in preparation for a creative process. The relationship between dance and<br />

music still works like a magnet to choreographers. Many dance-makers have a great liking for<br />

working with live musicians on stage.<br />

But the audiences have probably been given the biggest role in today’s dance world. It is striking<br />

how important spectators have become. This is an area in which Dutch dance-makers do<br />

not shy away from their relationship with the audience. Some choreographers try to get into<br />

the minds of the public, while others place the audience on the set or invite members of the<br />

public to take part. Dancers make witty comments or seduce the audience into self-reflection by<br />

means of subtle insinuations. Whatever choreographers decide in this respect, the fact remains<br />

that the aloof image of Dutch dance has been shaken off and many makers now aspire to direct<br />

contact with their audience.<br />

Audiences in the spotlight<br />

In their production Theriak, Leine & Roebana invite members of the audience to take part in a<br />

mini-choreography featuring the basic principles of time, space and movement. The makers<br />

have moved away from pure, abstract dancing in favour of incorporating more emotion into<br />

their work. They created Theriak, a production about human powerlessness, together with the<br />

harpist Lavinia Meijer. A courageous combination in which the normally sweet sounds of the<br />

instrument made way for experiments with music styles and a screwdriver.<br />

At the beginning of the production Poetic Disasters by Club Guy & Roni, a dancer addresses the<br />

audience, sketching various situations designed to make them fear the worst. Choreographers<br />

Weizman and Haver used this chaos theory as the basis for a production in which they tried<br />

to capture chaos and disaster in the form of poetry. The fact that the promises made by the<br />

narrator are not kept is of a lower order; the audience has been primed.<br />

Up-and-coming talent Pere Faura has made two refreshing productions; This is a picture of a<br />

person I don’t know and Striptease, in which he cleverly and wittily dismembers the conditions<br />

and codes of performance. He too leads the audience a merry dance. He secretly films their<br />

reactions, which are then enlarged and analyzed in detail.<br />

For many years, Keren Levi has been creating highly physical productions in which she explores<br />

the relationship with her audiences. Her production Territory (2004) was awarded the BNG Prize.<br />

She used her prize money to produce this season’s The Prize Piece, which is about the painful<br />

ambiguity of living in a world without room for doubt. Levi uses this quandary to play with her<br />

audience, whom she forces to make choices such as at the end of the performance when the<br />

performers sing, leaving no time left for applause. Should they leave the auditorium or should<br />

they stay?<br />

This direct approach is typical of the Dutch dance world. Makers including André Gingras, Anouk<br />

van Dijk and Dylan Newcomb also enjoy experimenting with this aspect.<br />

Audience perception is at the crux of the powerful statement made by Ivana Müller (Lisa) in the<br />

production While We Were Holding It Together. With the exception of a few sporadic changes of<br />

attitude and positioning during the black-outs, the performers maintain their stance for almost<br />

the entire performance. In this tableau vivant, they tell snippets of stories which, when repeated<br />

and linked to other fragments or put into another context, take on a whole new meaning. But<br />

the audience has to keep asking itself what is going on. Despite the lack of movement on stage,<br />

all kinds of scenarios race through their minds. The sounds echoing around the auditorium<br />

remind them of other places. And the action is so palpable that after a while, it is difficult to<br />

believe that no-one has actually moved.<br />

Müller trained at the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam, which has also been<br />

home to many an interesting newcomer on the dance scene, including Pere Faura. These<br />

makers explore the boundaries of dance, often by commenting on the art of dance itself. For<br />

example, Andrea Bozic used the film Blow-Up by Michelangelo Antonioni as the starting point<br />

for Still Life With Man And Woman, in which she ingeniously intertwines video footage with live<br />

performance. In her production, repetition (in this case repetition of movement fragments) is<br />

one of the pillars of her narrative. Bozic allows her audience to analyze the medium of performance<br />

from the film perspective.<br />

Sometimes the vagueness of the boundaries between various forms of theatre makes it impossible<br />

to classify the makers into any one category. This is why Andrea Bozic and the collective<br />

Lisa appear in part I of The Dutch on tour under movement theatre, and in part II under dance.<br />

Intensity of movement<br />

Bruno Listopad is a dance-maker who allows himself to be influenced by theoretical concepts.<br />

He explores ways of enhancing the intensity of the performance. Listopad craves authenticity<br />

on stage; the dancers’ movements must be inherent to their inner drive, uniting thought and<br />

<br />

The Dutch on tour (Youth) dance<br />

The Dutch on tour (Youth) dance


action like the brush marks of an artist on the canvas. In the production erva daninha (which is<br />

Portuguese for weeds), Listopad demonstrates the invincible and tenacious power of art which,<br />

like weeds, refuses to be halted or restricted in its development.<br />

Enhancing performance intensity is a subject that intrigues many dance-makers. Club Guy &<br />

Roni’s work is also characterized by powerful, compelling dancing.<br />

Ann Van den Broek developed a movement language that emphasizes the intensity of movement.<br />

Her productions revolve around the psychological processes that drive human motivation<br />

and instincts. Her performance Co(te)lette (2007) is about women’s urge and hunger for physical<br />

and mental satisfaction. An insatiable hunger, emanating from sexual desire or ambition,<br />

discharges from the bodies of the three dancers who shiver and shake with no prospect of relief.<br />

Following on from Bacon, Nanine Linning examined the instincts, urges and emotions of<br />

mankind. In Cry Love, the audience was led to their seats through the scenery, ducking between<br />

dancers hanging up by their feet. The struggle facing mankind was depicted through a haze of<br />

video images projected onto a transparent screen.<br />

In The Autopsy Project, André Gingras uses powerful imagery and movement to show how control<br />

of the human body manifests itself in both science and day-to-day life. An anatomical study<br />

on the dissection table, spectacular leaps from scaffolding and stills of naked bodies randomly<br />

distributed among the scenery as if in the aftermath of a bomb, illustrate his point of view.<br />

But control of the body is most evident in the dynamic, seemingly nonchalant dance scenes<br />

performed with impressive virtuosity.<br />

Dance for young audiences<br />

Alongside all this talent, the Netherlands also boasts a number of companies that create work<br />

specifically for children and the youth. These companies are immensely popular and hardly<br />

able to meet the current demand for youth productions in the Netherlands, as well as in other<br />

countries where a lively interest in Dutch youth dance is emerging.<br />

Introdans Ensemble voor de Jeugd has acquired a unique position in the youth dance sector<br />

by bringing choreography from the traditional Dutch treasure trove to the attention of young<br />

audiences. The company’s repertoire includes modern ballets specially created for children and<br />

young people and choreography originally intended for adults. This season for example, the<br />

Vanmanenmix programme was performed as a tribute to the ‘grand master’ Hans van Manen to<br />

mark his 75th birthday. Artistic director Roel Voorintholt also commissions young dance-makers<br />

to create the choreography for his shows.<br />

Apart from this repertoire company, which also produces shows for adult audiences together<br />

with another ensemble, the Netherlands lays claim to several highly motivated choreographers<br />

who have been creating productions for children and young people for many years. The themes<br />

their productions touch upon are often shaped by combining dance with script, song or live<br />

music.<br />

Meekers Uitgesproken Dans creates dance theatre in which funny, theatrical ideas give rise to unexpected<br />

scenes. Arthur Rosenfeld’s Timboektoe Trios/Timbuktu Trios (8+) is actually an amusing<br />

commentary on human relationships and amazement at the unknown. How do people pass the<br />

time in a spaceship that has already spent centuries trying to bridge light years? How do aliens<br />

from outer space react to finding a confused earthling on their planet? Poedelprijs/Poodle prize<br />

(8+) is about competition, and for the production Murph! (4+), based on Murphy’s law, Rosenfeld<br />

joined forces with the young dance-maker David Middendorp.<br />

Choreographer Wies Bloemen from Danstheater AYA approaches the youth in a very direct<br />

way, using a mixture of dance styles and acting. Honesty and humour are the tools she uses in<br />

her work to address universal themes. She often relies on the personal experiences of the cast.<br />

Pleasure and shame in a multicultural society form the starting point for Bronstsluier/Rutted Veil,<br />

and Hartstocht/Passion (14+) revolves around the choice between life and love.<br />

The productions created by Marco Gerris and his company ISH also tie in well with the world in<br />

which children live. This young theatre-maker draws inspiration from the street and nightclub<br />

scène, as well as from video clips, cartoons, games and films. ISH excites large-scale audiences<br />

with dynamic performances in which skates, street dance, break dance and martial arts are a<br />

guarantee for spectacular scenes. The production Balls was about being brave and following<br />

your dreams. Gerris developed this theme by means of dance and ball-games like football and<br />

basketball.<br />

During the past decades, Dutch dance has been put on the international map by a flock of<br />

headstrong, innovative dance-makers who enjoy exploring (and exceeding) the boundaries.<br />

The boundaries of the human body. The boundaries of the theatre auditorium and the place<br />

of the audience during a performance. The boundaries between dance and theatre, and far<br />

beyond: between their own discipline and other art disciplines, such as music, expressive art<br />

and video. And last but not least, the national boundaries. The Netherlands has become a<br />

place where dance talent from every corner of the world comes together to create exciting<br />

new dance, which can then be taken back to the furthest reaches of the world.<br />

Marcelle Schots<br />

10 The Dutch on tour (Youth) dance<br />

The Dutch on tour (Youth) dance<br />

11


Language<br />

English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Andrea Bozic<br />

T +31 (0)6 – 41 24 75 27<br />

E andboz@yahoo.co.uk<br />

I www.willmsworks.net<br />

A union of old and<br />

Andrea Bozic<br />

new media<br />

Andrea Bozic produces interdisciplinary and multimedia shows that balance on the border<br />

between podium art and media art. They are compositions made from fragments of movement,<br />

music, video, film and (sometimes) text. She usually works with video artist Julia Willms and<br />

composer Robert Pravda.<br />

She is fascinated by presence, embodiment, fiction and narrative, and what happens to these<br />

elements when a space is configured with technology: how does our media-obsessed living<br />

environment affect how it feels to live in this world?<br />

In her projects, Andrea Bozic has developed several strategies for addressing these questions:<br />

It’s Me But I’m No Longer There was an installation for two active spectators, but without a protagonist;<br />

Ways To Multiply Yourself was a production for a far removed body that was being observed<br />

by two cameras; Still Life With Man And Woman was an existential thriller, a film set within a live<br />

performance. The new production Nothing Can Surprise Us (June 2008) follows on from the use<br />

of film material as a ‘script’ for a show, whereby two art forms unite to produce an interdisciplinary<br />

theatre discipline.<br />

International<br />

Over the last few years, Andrea Bozic has worked throughout Europe at festivals, conferences<br />

and an on exchange platforms. Her last production Still Life With Man And Woman, a co-production<br />

with <strong>Theater</strong> Gasthuis (Amsterdam) and the Plateaux Festival, Mousonturm (Frankfurt), was<br />

further performed in Belgium, Germany and Hungary and continues touring to other European<br />

countries. Ways To Multiply Yourself was performed in Germany and Croatia. Pulse Line, a dance<br />

film made in collaboration with Julia Willms, was shown in Israel, Greece and South Africa.<br />

Still Life With Man And Woman<br />

Photo: Andrea Bozic<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

13


Language<br />

English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: André Gingras<br />

Agency: Korzo producties<br />

T +31 (0)70 – 363 75 40<br />

E info@korzo.nl<br />

I www.korzo.nl<br />

Modern-day moral<br />

André Gingras<br />

dilemmas in dance<br />

The Canadian-Dutch choreographer André Gingras can claim an impressive run of shows, in<br />

which he proves time and time again that dance is a suitable vehicle for commenting on current<br />

events. Gingras’ productions bring modern-day dilemmas into the theatre, with choreography<br />

that combines energy and explosion with humour and absurdity.<br />

Gingras scored his first Dutch choreographic hit with CYP 17<br />

, (première CaDance festival 2000).<br />

In the years that followed, the choreographer worked for Korzo productions creating The Sweet<br />

Flesh Room (2002), The Lindenmeyer System (2004), Hypertopia (2005), trans.form (2006) and<br />

The Autopsy Project (2007). Gingras also devised the choreography for large Dutch companies<br />

such as Scapino Ballet (2003) and <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong> (2004 and 2005).<br />

André Gingras is planning to set up a new Amsterdam-based dance cooperative called Skin<br />

together with choreographer Nanine Linning.<br />

International<br />

Gingras travels the world with his choreographies. He has presented CYP 17<br />

at prestigious<br />

festivals, including the Romaeuropa festival in Italy, and on famous stages in Europe and beyond,<br />

including the Sydney Opera House in Australia and the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York.<br />

This performance earned dancer Kenneth Flak the prestigious Bessie Award (New York, 2007).<br />

Alongside these achievements, Gingras has also worked as guest choreographer for the<br />

Staattheater Nürnberg, Rambert Dance Company in London and Iceland Dance Company.<br />

CYP 17<br />

Photo: Ben van Duin<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

15


Language<br />

None/English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Anouk van Dijk<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 528 97 23<br />

E info@anoukvandijk.nl<br />

I www.anoukvandijk.nl<br />

Tangible people<br />

anoukvandijk dc<br />

in an abstract setting<br />

Anouk van Dijk was for almost a decade a lead soloist with Dance Works Rotterdam and Amanda<br />

Miller’s Pretty Ugly Dance Company. Since 1996, she has dedicated herself exclusively to the<br />

creation and performance of her own work. She has been running her own dance company since<br />

1998 and was awarded the prestigious Dutch Lucas Hoving Prize for her oeuvre in 2000. Anouk<br />

van Dijk has created fifteen full evening works and more than twenty-five shorter choreographies.<br />

She developed her own groundbreaking movement system, called the Countertechnique,<br />

enabling her dancers to perform her demanding movement material in a breathtaking way.<br />

The work of Anouk van Dijk intriguingly integrates virtuoso contemporary dance in a strong<br />

conceptual context. With tangible people in an abstract setting, Anouk van Dijk creates powerful<br />

worlds in which daily reality seamlessly merges with absurd fantasies and philosophical implications.<br />

Her work takes the form of regular black box productions as well as large-scale productions,<br />

site-specific works and process-oriented research projects.<br />

International<br />

Anouk van Dijk has been operating internationally from the start, premiering her first works at<br />

international festivals such as Klapstuk and Springdance. Her international breakthrough was<br />

Nothing Hurts (2000), a collaboration with German director Falk Richter. Since then her work has<br />

been presented all around the world, from Russia to Australia, from America to Asia and all over<br />

Europe. Besides its own productions the company has developed a great deal of international<br />

collaborations. Recent successes were the residency versions of STAU in Moscow, Shanghai and<br />

North-Adams as well as Women of the World, a coproduction with the Beijing Modern Dance<br />

Company.<br />

Situations<br />

Photo: Jerry Remkes<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

17


Language<br />

None/on request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Andrea Boll<br />

T +31 (0)20 – 627 65 82<br />

E info@hanshof.nl<br />

I www.hanshof.nl<br />

An ode to the imagination<br />

BOLLWERK<br />

and the absurd<br />

Andrea Boll’s work does not focus on the aesthetics of the dancing body or on a conceptual<br />

statement, but reacts directly to the world we live in. With her discerning sense of the tragiccomic<br />

condition of human impotence, Boll creates situations and characters that speak to her<br />

audiences. Her dance style forms the departure point for her work: improvisation alongside<br />

set choreography, crudeness in movement paralleled with perfection in detail, wild acrobatics<br />

coupled with vulnerability, and harmony juxtaposed with disharmony. Theatrical techniques<br />

such as projection, voice, text and live music form an inseparable part of the choreographic<br />

composition that depicts the beauty of life as well as its vulgar and repugnant elements.<br />

The dancer is central to Boll’s work as a character and as a ‘performing’ personality.<br />

Bollwerk runs a number of key ventures: Bollwerk Producties, Bollwerk Lessen & Workshops and<br />

Bollwerk Lab., a mobile choreographic laboratory for research and development, which performs<br />

shows for the general public.<br />

Bollwerk is a Hans Hof Ensemble initiative. In 2009, following ten years of successful collaboration,<br />

the choreographers of the Hans Hof Ensemble will part ways. Andrea Boll will continue<br />

with Bollwerk when the Hans Hof Ensemble disbands.<br />

International<br />

Andrea Boll is extremely active throughout the whole of Europe and beyond. With the Hans Hof<br />

Ensemble she performed in shows such as Stad bij Nacht/Night Town, Vrouwen in Bad/Women in<br />

the Bath and Morgen Gestorben in a host of European countries. When she was not performing<br />

with the ensemble, Boll was working with international companies such as the Studio for New<br />

Music Ensemble in Moscow, and on productions such as the highly-acclaimed award-winning<br />

Boxing Pushkin with orchestral accompaniment. ‘It feels as though you’re on a runaway rollercoaster.<br />

As a member of the audience, you’re left reeling from the adrenaline rush’ (De Gelderlander,<br />

newspaper review of Boxing Pushkin).<br />

Bollwerk prizes intensive international exchange. Performances are available for international<br />

tours, and workshops and Lab. presentations can be organized on request.<br />

Morgen gestorben<br />

Photo: Marco Borggreve<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

19


Language<br />

English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Bruno Listopad<br />

Agency: Korzo producties<br />

T +31 (0)70 – 363 75 40<br />

E info@korzo.nl<br />

I www.korzo.nl<br />

Profoundly human<br />

Bruno Listopad<br />

spirituality in movement<br />

Bruno Listopad’s choreographies are widely praised for their profoundly human spirituality<br />

and magical wealth of imagery and movement, like exquisite jewels captured in refined<br />

compositions. His choreographies revolve around the idea of ‘thinking with your body’ and<br />

are built on a foundation of artistic, philosophical and psychological perceptions.<br />

Listopad made his choreographic debut with the duet Jesus Loves You, commissioned by the<br />

Holland Dance Festival in 1998. He later devised various choreographies for Korzo productions,<br />

including In Transit, First Form, Fairytales Reconfigured and erva daninha. In 2001, he won the<br />

Phillip Morris Art Award. He has been resident guest choreographer with Dance Works<br />

Rotterdam since 2003, and has devised guest choreographies for Dutch companies including<br />

Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel, Rogie & Company and Het Nationale Ballet.<br />

Listopad’s work is so widely respected that his artistic development is closely followed in<br />

avant-garde circles and by the large-scale companies. The appreciation for this choreographer,<br />

who used to produce dance, can also be seen in the fact that the evening-long productions<br />

he devises for Korzo productions have been selected for the <strong>Nederland</strong>se Dansdagen annual<br />

review festival for five years running.<br />

International<br />

Early on in his career, Listopad was awarded various prizes abroad, such as the Prize of Interpretation<br />

(1997) and the Revelation Prize Ribeiro da Fonte (1999). Listopad’s performances have<br />

been widely performed on podiums and at festivals abroad. He also creates choreographies<br />

for foreign companies, such as the Ballet Gulbenkian (2000), Companhia Instavel (as part of the<br />

Rotterdam-Porto Cultural Capitals exchange project 2001) and Nye Carte Blanche, Bergen in<br />

Norway (2005).<br />

Fairytales Reconfigured<br />

Photo: Robert Benschop<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

21


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Guy Weizman and Roni Haver<br />

Agency: Grand Theatre Groningen<br />

T +31 (0) 50 – 314 46 44<br />

E produktie@grand-theatre.nl<br />

I www.grand-theatre.nl, www.clubguyandroni.nl<br />

Mysterious, seductive<br />

Club Guy & Roni<br />

and raw performance<br />

Choreographers Guy Weizman and Roni Haver, both Israeli with an Arab background, focus<br />

their work on current subjects with the aim of inspiring, confronting and touching the audience.<br />

The duality in their background is reflected in their work. The recurring theme in their work is<br />

personal liberation and their dance vocabulary is innovative, raw and exciting.<br />

After starting in the Bat Sheva Ensemble in Tel Aviv, they worked with various dance companies<br />

in Berlin, Barcelona and Brussels, inspiring themselves along the way. Club Guy & Roni was<br />

founded in 2001. Devoted to the work of Roni Haver and Guy Weizman, the Club creates and<br />

tours with a range of productions, all produced by Grand Theatre Groningen. The Club Works<br />

with permanent employees such as Eva Puschendorf, Yvonne Weschke, Dunja Jocic (dancers),<br />

Ascon de Nijs (scenery designer), Veerle van Overloop (dramaturgist) and Wil Frikken (lighting).<br />

The choreographers work on the programming for the music together with Frits Selie (Prime),<br />

with whom they write out commissions for contemporary composers.<br />

Roni Haver has twice been nominated for the Zwaan (Swan) for the best dancing achievement.<br />

International<br />

Their mysterious, seductive and dynamic dance performances have made them a popular guest<br />

at international festivals in places including Rome, Tallin, Marseille and Lausanne. In the summer<br />

of 2007 the company performed at the prestigious American Jacob’s pillow festival, the Grec<br />

Festival in Barcelona, the Schlossfestspiele in Ludwigsburg and at Oerol Festival on the Dutch<br />

island Terschelling. The Münstersche Zeitung wrote about Myrrh and Cinnamon: ‘An intimate,<br />

pulsating, seductive performance, an intoxicating illustration of modern-day love.’<br />

In 2008 the company will perform Poetic Disasters in several European cities.<br />

Poetic Disasters<br />

Photo: Wim te Brake<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

23


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic Director: Conny Janssen<br />

T +31 (0) 10 – 452 99 12<br />

E info@connyjanssendanst.nl<br />

I www.connyjanssendanst.nl<br />

Surprising all-round<br />

Conny Janssen Danst<br />

dance adventure<br />

Over the last few years, a broad audience ranging from modern dance lovers to break dancers,<br />

have been entranced by Conny Janssen’s surprising performances. Not only theatres welcome<br />

Conny Janssen Danst with open arms, also many renowned Dutch festivals like Lowlands and<br />

the Parade urge their audiences to get to know this dance company from Rotterdam.<br />

Conny Janssen’s deep love for contrasts can be seen in her choreographies. She uses humour<br />

to try and tackle deep emotions: being versus absurdism, tenderness versus coarseness, and<br />

aesthetics versus daily life.<br />

Conny Janssen sets her choreographies to a combination of live or recorded classical, contemporary<br />

and pop music. This produces a fluid yet clashing combination of dance, theatre, design,<br />

music and light. Another recurring conflict in her choreographies is the fragility of the individual<br />

versus the power of the group.<br />

International<br />

Conny Janssen Danst has been invited to perform at many festivals and theatres across the<br />

world. The company performed in Morocco, Russia, Germany, France, Canada, USA, Spain,<br />

Hungary, Italy and the Czech Republic.<br />

Rebound, a study in confinement, power, and social dynamics, is booked next season for the<br />

Jacob’s Pillow dance festival in the USA.<br />

Rena Shagan Associates Inc. on Conny Janssen Danst: ‘An edgy, Netherlands-based choreographer,<br />

Conny Janssen has made her mark on European contemporary dance with striking,<br />

intensely physical work. Contrasting humour with deep emotion, combining classical with<br />

pop music, Janssen strikes a balance between pure dance and strong theatrics.’<br />

Rebound<br />

Photo: Leo van Velzen<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

25


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Ton Simons<br />

T + 31 (0)10 – 436 45 11<br />

E m.wouters@danceworksrotterdam.nl<br />

I www.danceworksrotterdam.nl<br />

Agency: US/Canada: Art Becofsky Associates,<br />

ckdance@aol.com<br />

Dance Works<br />

Sublime refinement<br />

Rotterdam<br />

in movement<br />

The sublime refinement in movement and choreography that Dance Works Rotterdam<br />

continues to produce, elicits shivers of delight. Artistic director/resident choreographer of Dance<br />

Works Rotterdam Ton Simons is widely recognized as a major dance artist with an extraordinary<br />

gift for clear form and lyrical content. His work is extremely musical with an aesthetic quality,<br />

characterized by a sense of the nitty-gritty: simplicity suffused with life. Within this clarity Simons<br />

still manages a complexity in counterpoint to the music that is mind-boggling. Moreover, he<br />

presents his technically excellent dancers as human beings on stage. The company radiates with<br />

harmony, but the relationships portrayed are fervently exciting. The human aspect is eminently<br />

present throughout.<br />

The range of the company’s repertoire extends to include major works of internationally<br />

acclaimed guest choreographers from the forefront of international dance innovation, including<br />

Raphael Bonachela, Dana Caspersen, Stephen Petronio, Bruno Listopad and Sjoerd Vreugdenhil.<br />

(Reference: Dance Europe, Ali Mahbouba: ‘Human Figures’, December 2007).<br />

International<br />

Since the appointment of Ton Simons as artistic director in 2000, Dance Works Rotterdam<br />

has toured successfully in: The Czech Republic (Tanec Praha Festival, Prague 2002), Switzerland<br />

(6 city tour, STEPS Festival, 2004), Cyprus (Laika, 2005 and Limasol, 2006), France (Toulouse<br />

and Marseille, 2005), Romania (Sibiu, National <strong>Theater</strong> Radu Stanca, 2005 and 2007) and Russia<br />

(Pushkin <strong>Theater</strong>, Moscow, 2006, Hermitage <strong>Theater</strong>, St. Petersburg, 2007).<br />

Dance Works Rotterdam offers technique/repertory workshops as part of the company’s tour<br />

programmes.<br />

Human Figures/Das Wohltemperierte Clavier<br />

Photo: Robert Benschop<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

27


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Krisztina de Châtel<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 669 57 55<br />

E info@dechatel.nl<br />

I www.dechatel.nl<br />

Dansgroep<br />

Dance in unusual locations<br />

and<br />

Krisztina de Châtel<br />

combinations<br />

Krisztina de Châtel is a prominent choreographer who distinguishes herself with a unique<br />

oeuvre of a consistent high quality. Under her leadership, Dansgroep (dance company) Krisztina<br />

de Châtel has become one of Holland’s leading contemporary dance companies with an exquisite<br />

dancers’ tableau. Her performances, which are often set in unusual, sometimes outdoor,<br />

locations such as the Van Gogh Museum or the Dutch dunes, combine dance, music and visual<br />

art and provide a full evening’s entertainment. She is open to new cultural developments and<br />

frequently seeks cooperation with other artists. She has also initiated projects with new media<br />

and virtual space, skate boys, garbage men, and various other striking combinations.<br />

Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2008. Choreographers<br />

Krisztina de Châtel and Itzik Galili are planning to launch a new dance company in Amsterdam,<br />

The Netherlands called Dansgroep Amsterdam in January 2009.<br />

International<br />

Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel has already made numerous successful tours around the globe,<br />

ranging from Europe to Africa and the Far East. The company has been invited to perform at<br />

several dance festivals during 2008 in the Middle East, Brazil and the Tanzmesse in Germany.<br />

Amongst other shows, they will be performing the successful choreographic work Pulse.<br />

Furthermore, a unique production will be presented at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna,<br />

combining the paintings of Egon Schiele, the performance art of Marina Abramović and the<br />

choreography of Krisztina de Châtel.<br />

The oeuvre of Krisztina de Châtel contains a vast number of works which can be performed<br />

abroad. Furthermore, the dance company has often adapted site specific choreographies to<br />

outdoor locations, as for instance at the Opera Estate Festival Veneto 2007 in Italy.<br />

Pulse<br />

Photo:Karel Zwaneveld<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

29


Language<br />

None/on request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Pieter de Ruiter and Eva Villanueva<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 777 04 80<br />

E info@dansity.com<br />

I www.dansity.com<br />

Agency: De Zee <strong>Theater</strong>producties, www.dezee.nl<br />

Powerful emotional<br />

Dansity Amsterdam<br />

and sensual dance<br />

The Dansity Foundation was established in 1990 by its artistic director and choreographer Pieter<br />

de Ruiter. The company is based in Amsterdam and has produced a large number of successful<br />

performances both in the Netherlands and abroad. In 1998, choreographer Eva Villanueva joined<br />

the artistic staff and has collaborated on all of the productions since.<br />

De Ruiter’s and Villanueva’s choreographies are characterized by an intriguing movement<br />

vocabulary based on interwoven classical and modern dance techniques. By adding everyday<br />

movements, and through staging the choreography in extreme situations, they create a powerful<br />

emotional and sensual dance. Their strength is to use this vocabulary in interdisciplinary<br />

productions which deal with themes that are relevant to modern society.<br />

De Ruiter and Villanueva work regularly with artists from different disciplines such as theatre,<br />

visual art and music and often commission original music compositions which, whenever possible,<br />

are played live during the performances. The different disciplines are always given equal<br />

weight in the mise-en-scene.<br />

International<br />

Pieter de Ruiter and Eva Villanueva have created pieces for a number of international companies<br />

such as Ballet Braunschweig and Ballet Mannheim in Germany, Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia<br />

in Italy and for companies in the Czech Republic, Brazil, Turkey and France. Productions that<br />

are currently up and running or coming soon, and some of the repertory work as well, can be<br />

performed abroad.<br />

In 2007, De Ruiter and Villanueva became official partners of Das Pumpwerk in Berlin, Germany.<br />

It’s a new cultural venue that runs and programs a fully equipped theatre space in the monumental<br />

water distribution station ‘Radialsystem XI’. Das Pumpwerk Berlin and Dansity Amsterdam<br />

are developing a concrete plan of action to gradually build strong links between the Amsterdam<br />

and Berlin dance scenes with the emphasis on crossover productions.<br />

As well as initializing cultural projects with Das Pumpwerk Berlin, Dansity Amsterdam will<br />

regularly present their productions at this location.<br />

Ragna<br />

Photo: Hans Gerritsen<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

31


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 616 72 40<br />

E info@egpc.nl<br />

I www.emiogrecopc.nl<br />

Agency’s: <br />

Italy: Francesca Zitoli, ATER,<br />

http://ater.regione.emilia-romagna.it<br />

USA: Cathy Zimmerman, MAPP,<br />

www.multiartsprojects.com<br />

The body creates<br />

Emio Greco | PC<br />

its own time and space<br />

Emio Greco (EG) and Pieter C. Scholten (PC) have worked together since 1995. They present their<br />

work under the name of Emio Greco | PC, which expresses the collaborative effort of their artistic<br />

partnership.<br />

In the productions of Emio Greco | PC, dance is regarded as autonomous with the body, having<br />

an inherent logic and being capable of creating its own time and space. Dance and other theatrical<br />

elements such as space, lighting, costumes, video, sound and music (all crucial within the<br />

work of the company) are not simply used as media for conveying messages, nor for dressing a<br />

theatrical space. This interdisciplinary approach of choreographers Greco and Scholten has led,<br />

and still leads, to invitations to direct operas and theatre productions.<br />

The company also promotes a broader attitude towards dance as an art form. It initiates and<br />

organises debates on dance and discourse, edits publications on current dance and arts topics,<br />

manages international research projects and has developed the Accademia Mobile, the nomadic<br />

school of the company. As from 2009, all these different activities will be incorporated into the<br />

Amsterdam-based International Choreographic Arts Centre of Emio Greco | PC (ICKAmsterdam).<br />

International<br />

Emio Greco | PC has received numerous national and international awards. The company enjoys<br />

strong international recognition and tours extensively to international festivals and performing<br />

arts venues. The work has been shown in over 30 countries all around the world and is cocommissioned<br />

by major festivals and venues on a regular basis.<br />

Hell<br />

Photo: Laurent Ziegler<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

33


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Ted Brandsen<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 551 8225<br />

E info@het-ballet.nl<br />

I www.het-ballet.nl<br />

Classical, modern and<br />

Het Nationale Ballet<br />

contemporary works<br />

A unique repertoire and high technical and artistic standards have contributed to Het Nationale<br />

Ballet (the Dutch National Ballet) becoming one of the world’s leading ballet companies. Despite<br />

its name, Het Nationale Ballet is an international company with dancers who either come from<br />

or are regular guests with other prestigious companies. Het Nationale Ballet is by far the largest<br />

dance company in the Netherlands, with 80 dancers and more than 125 members of staff.<br />

Het Nationale Ballet performs a mixture of classical, romantic, neo-classical, modern and contemporary<br />

works and has made an important contribution to the emergence and development<br />

of young choreographic talent, and thus to a contemporary Dutch style of choreography.<br />

Ex-resident choreographers Rudi van Dantzig and Toer van Schayk and resident choreographer<br />

Hans van Manen all experienced their first great international successes with this company.<br />

Furthermore, Het Nationale Ballet has also produced a whole new generation of choreographers,<br />

which includes artistic director Ted Brandsen, resident choreographer Krzysztof Pastor<br />

and freelance choreographer David Dawson – all ex-dancers from the company. Their work is<br />

performed by companies all over the world from the Washington Ballet to the West Australian<br />

Ballet. Choreographers from the Netherlands and from abroad are also regularly invited to<br />

produce new works exclusively for Het Nationale Ballet.<br />

Since 1986, Het Nationale Ballet has been based in Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, one of the<br />

largest and best-equipped theatres in Europe.<br />

International<br />

Het Nationale Ballet frequently tours Europe and future planned tours include the USA and the<br />

Far East.<br />

Live<br />

Photo: Angela Sterling<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

35


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Roel Voorintholt<br />

T +31 (0) 26 – 351 21 11<br />

E welcome@introdans.nl<br />

I www.introdans.nl<br />

Old masters, new<br />

Introdans<br />

partners, young talent<br />

Introdans is dancing like never before. The company is now one of the top 3 in the Netherlands,<br />

pursuing a healthy ambition to perform high-quality dance to audiences from all walks of life.<br />

Introdans presents modern ballet productions on themes such as ‘Old masters’, ‘New partners’,<br />

‘Young talent’. Based in the east of the Netherlands, the company tours Dutch theatres and<br />

regularly performs on the international stage. Various choreographers are responsible for<br />

creating Introdans ballets, in which classical elements are combined with modern techniques.<br />

International<br />

Internationalisation is a spearhead of Introdans policy. The company performs regularly on<br />

foreign podia and at international festivals, and is often invited to accompany the Royal Family<br />

on state visits.<br />

Both ensembles, Introdans and Introdans Ensemble voor de Jeugd, perform productions across<br />

the world. Introdans can often be seen in theatres in Belgium and Germany and the company<br />

has made a number of appearances at the International Festival of Music and Dance in Bangkok,<br />

Thailand. Their performance during HM Queen Beatrix’s state visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina<br />

in 2006 was among their all-time high points, which also include Introdans Ensemble voor de<br />

Jeugd’s repeated appearances at the International Children’s Theatre Festival in Edinburgh,<br />

Great-Britain, the Steps Festival in Switzerland and in the New Victory Theatre on Broadway,<br />

New York. Introdans Educatie gives workshops, practical lessons and master classes accompanying<br />

productions by both ensembles. This specialized division of the company also organizes<br />

symposia and conferences on its own initiative and on request. Introdans Educatie serves as an<br />

international example in terms of promoting expertise in the field of dance.<br />

Daylight<br />

Photo: Hans Gerritsen<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

37


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Andrea Leine and Harijono<br />

Roebana<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 489 38 20<br />

E dans@leineroebana.com<br />

I www.leineroebana.com<br />

Treat for the ears,<br />

Leine & Roebana<br />

feast for the eyes<br />

Leine & Roebana is the modern dance company of the choreographers’ duo Andrea Leine and<br />

Harijono Roebana. It has occupied a prominent place in the Dutch dance world for some years<br />

now. The choreographers stand out for their special way of working with music. They use their<br />

great knowledge of and passion for music in creating works in which a true symbiosis takes<br />

place between music and movement. They use early music from around 1600 to contemporary<br />

music, and they regularly invite composers to create works especially for the company. For each<br />

production, they carefully search out musicians who both excel in their profession and are<br />

interested in an intense collaboration between musicians, dancers and choreographers. This<br />

produces performances that are ‘not only a treat for the ears, but also a real feast for the eyes’,<br />

as the press described Merg/Marrow (2007). Merg/Marrow is a production which searches for<br />

equality between opera and dance. Another production with great international success is<br />

Sporen/Tracks (2003). This work is an example of how Leine & Roebana juxtapose contrasting<br />

types of music in dialogue with their own specific style of movement.<br />

International<br />

Leine & Roebana’s work has been awarded several prizes and has been performed not only in<br />

the Netherlands, but also in Europe, Canada, Brazil and the United States. In season ’07-’08 the<br />

dance opera Merg/Marrow was performed in Dijon, France and Ludwigsburg, Germany<br />

In the ’08-’09 season, Leine & Roebana will present Merg/Marrow in Annemasse, France. In spring<br />

2008, Sporen/Tracks will go on a six-city tour of the United States of America. Bietigheimer<br />

Zeitung, Germany wrote: ‘The roots of emotional life.’<br />

Tracks<br />

Photo: Deen van Meer<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

39


Language<br />

English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Nicole Beutler, Hester van Hasselt,<br />

Ivana Müller, Paz Rojo and David Weber-Krebs<br />

T +31 (0)6 – 12 93 54 32<br />

E info@associationlisa.com<br />

I www.associationlisa.com<br />

Platform for reflection<br />

LISA<br />

and exchange<br />

Lisa is an Amsterdam-based maker’s initiative and production facility belonging to the independent<br />

dance and performance makers Nicole Beutler, Hester van Hasselt, Ivana Müller, Paz Rojo<br />

and David Weber-Krebs. Lisa also serves as a platform for reflection and artistic exchange.<br />

Ever since it was founded, Lisa’s aim has been to initiate discussion. The company does this<br />

on the basis of its conviction that reflecting upon one’s own work and that of others, as well<br />

as upon developments in the world of art as a whole, is both necessary and productive.<br />

It is difficult to translate Lisa’s work into words. It sometimes features dance, sometimes video.<br />

It is sometimes light-hearted, sometimes funny, and sometimes philosophical. Although all the<br />

various lisas have their own specific, well-defined theatre language, their work also displays similarities.<br />

For example, Lisa productions always leave as much room as possible for the audience’s<br />

imagination. And they always pose questions, about perceived reality, for example,<br />

or the effects of theatricality.<br />

International<br />

Lisa focuses as much on the Dutch theatre world as on foreign audiences. During the last<br />

few years, Lisa has performed in almost every country in Europe (England, Belgium, Germany,<br />

Spain, Scandinavia, etc). This is how things stand at the moment and little is expected to change.<br />

On request, David Weber-Krebs will for example tour Brazil with various projects. Ivana Müller<br />

is taking While We Were Holding It Together from Finland to Hungary and from Switzerland to<br />

Singapore. Nearly all Lisa shows are made in co-production with foreign theatres/organizations.<br />

Ivana Müller was recently presented with the Charlotte Köhler prize, and Lisa regularly receives<br />

favourable reviews at home and abroad.<br />

Enter Ghost<br />

Photo: Anja Beutler<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

41


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Nanine Linning<br />

Agency: Lewis productions<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 626 20 62<br />

E info@lewisproductions.nl<br />

I www.naninelinning.nl, www.lewisproductions.nl<br />

An arresting<br />

Nanine Linning<br />

sensory experience<br />

Nanine Linning choreographs intensely physical and arresting performances about basic human<br />

instincts, passions and emotions. Survival mechanisms and human interactions are given shape<br />

and form in a dynamic world where man is presented in all his insignificance and glory.<br />

The human body and all its desires feature prominently in her work. On the one hand we see<br />

the yearning for physical communication with the outside world, and on the other hand the<br />

desire to retreat within oneself. Nanine Linnings’ performances are distinguished by her unusual<br />

choice of presentation forms and locations and the theatrical events she presents alongside her<br />

performances to give meaningful context to her work.<br />

Linning is a choreographer who likes to work outside the normal contexts of theatre. Her work<br />

is strongly multidisciplinary. She has worked with various contemporary artists, composers and<br />

video artists, and her performances in the past have often featured actors, poets and musicians<br />

as well as dancers. Linning has won a number of prizes including the prestigious Philip Morris<br />

Art Prize. She was awarded the VSCD Zwaan (Swan) prize for Best Production 2005 for ‘Bacon’.<br />

Together with André Gingras she is planning to set up a new Amsterdam-based dance cooperative<br />

called Skin. Skin will be fully operative as of 2009, continuing to present their existing repertoire<br />

and creating new interdisciplinary productions and events in an international context.<br />

International<br />

Nanine Linning performed her productions in numerous European cities, besides South-Africa,<br />

Singapore and the USA. In 2007, she successfully presented Cry Love, a crossover between a<br />

video installation and dance performance, in the museum MASSMoCa, USA. Award winning and<br />

cutting-edge choreography Bacon, inspired by the paintings of Francis Bacon was presented in<br />

Germany, Austria and Poland. Dolby, her latest hardcore explosive production will be premiering<br />

at the Julidans Festival 2008.<br />

Cry Love<br />

Photo: Antoinette Mooy<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

43


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Anders Hellström<br />

T +31 (0) 70 – 880 01 00<br />

E info@ndt.nl<br />

I www.nederlandsdanstheater.nl<br />

<strong>Nederland</strong>s<br />

Virtuosity and<br />

Dans <strong>Theater</strong><br />

unparalleled expression<br />

Under the dynamic leadership of artistic director Anders Hellström, <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong><br />

is among the most prominent and innovative contemporary dance companies in the world.<br />

The company is praised for its own repertoire works by resident choreographers Jiří Kylián and<br />

Lightfoot León. <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong>’s dancers display virtuosity and unparalleled expression<br />

while performing a challenging repertoire. But <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong> also performs<br />

new creations by established choreographers and upcoming talent from within and outside<br />

its numbers. The company comprises two ensembles representing two generations of dancers:<br />

from budding talents in <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong> II to fully matured dancers in <strong>Nederland</strong>s<br />

Dans <strong>Theater</strong> I. The company contributes to various art forms with its use of visual art, music<br />

composition, light and set designs, while also developing new choreographic talent. In Lucent<br />

Danstheater in The Hague, all of these talents converge in surroundings regarded as an<br />

important breeding ground, where they constantly progress to shape the future of dance.<br />

The company inspires, engages and challenges audiences world-wide.<br />

International<br />

From the moment <strong>Nederland</strong>s Dans <strong>Theater</strong> obtained international recognition in the USA<br />

in 1978 with Synfonietta by Jiří Kylián, the company has repeatedly been asked to perform<br />

its repertoire in famous theatres and cities all over the world. The highlights of the last seasons<br />

include performances at the Edinburgh Festival, the Jacobs Pillow Festival, and in many theatres<br />

from Helsinki to Buenos Aires.<br />

The company and its resident choreographers have won many prizes, including Kylián with<br />

three Nijinsky Awards and the Benois de la Danse in Moscow and Berlin, and Lightfoot León<br />

with the Benois de la Danse and the Herald Archangel at the Edinburgh International Festival.<br />

Shoot the Moon<br />

Photo: Joris Jan Bos<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

45


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Itzik Galili<br />

T +31 (0) 50 – 579 94 41<br />

E info@nnd.nl<br />

I www.galilidance.com<br />

An emotional and<br />

NND/Galili Dance<br />

rational challenge<br />

The Dutch-Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili is the artistic director of this company, which<br />

produces contemporary dance productions. The repertoire of NND/Galili Dance comprises<br />

a colourful collection of diverse choreography, representing a broad spectrum of topics.<br />

An abstract and theatrical language of movement knits these works by autodidact Galili<br />

together, presenting the audience with an emotional and rational challenge.<br />

Itzik Galili likes to combine a strongly physical language of movement with theatrical elements.<br />

Pure dance and theatricality are generally put forward as opposing forces, but Galili is also<br />

fascinated by their fusion. He uses the confrontation between dance and other art disciplines<br />

(such as music, film, architecture, text and new media) to explore the boundaries of the term<br />

communication.<br />

International<br />

Over the years, NND/Galili Dance has become increasingly impressive on international podiums.<br />

The company is a frequent guest at foreign festivals, having appeared in Brazil, Germany, Italy,<br />

Israel, France, Spain, Finland, Japan and Russia. During a five-yearly readers’ poll in 2003, readers<br />

of the prominent British magazine Dance Europe voted Itzik Galili one of the year’s twenty best<br />

artistic leaders.<br />

‘Galili’s art lies in his capacity to balance abstraction and narration with finesse, creating works<br />

that impress themselves strongly upon us. He is one of only a few choreographers working in<br />

the Netherlands today who can structure a fragile equilibrium between humour, aggression,<br />

lyricism, sex and elegance.’ (Ballettanz International Magazine)<br />

Six<br />

Photo: Karel Zwaneveld<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

47


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Ed Wubbe<br />

T +31 (0)10 – 414 24 14<br />

E info@scapinoballet.nl<br />

I www.scapinoballet.nl<br />

Touching the soul<br />

Scapino Ballet<br />

with magic, richness<br />

Rotterdam<br />

and beauty<br />

Scapino Ballet Rotterdam wants its performances to touch the soul, to show people the magic,<br />

richness and beauty of dance. The company is searching for authenticity, something to believe<br />

in. Scapino Ballet Rotterdam produces dance that is right on the cutting edge. Exciting dance<br />

by inspired artists and virtuoso dancers with something to say.<br />

Scapino Ballet Rotterdam is one of the trendsetters in Dutch modern dance, presenting unique<br />

repertoire by artistic director Ed Wubbe, resident guest choreographers Marco Goecke and<br />

Georg Reischl and young, talented dance makers.<br />

Ed Wubbe: ‘You can feel the inspirational chemistry. We all do very different things, but together<br />

we form a solid base on which the company can build. We’ve invested a lot in people over the<br />

last few years and now we’re reaping the benefits. We have found ourselves, everything is coming<br />

together as it should.’<br />

International<br />

Since it was founded in 1945, Scapino has played an important role in the development of<br />

modern dance. Apart from appearances in the Netherlands, the company performs at countless<br />

international festivals and on foreign stages in Europe and countries including Israel, South-<br />

Africa, Indonesia and Brazil. One of the foremost qualities of the present Scapino company is<br />

the much-acclaimed international dancers’ group. The 21 Scapino dancers are praised for their<br />

achievements, technical competency and feisty characters. They originate from all corners of the<br />

world, from England to China and from Australia to Brazil. This year, Scapino will be returning to<br />

America with The Green and De Bruiden/The Brides by Ed Wubbe, and Der Rest ist schweigen/The<br />

Rest is silence and Äffi by Marco Goecke. Performances in New York and Portland (Oregon) have<br />

also been planned.<br />

The Green<br />

Photo: Hans Gerritsen<br />

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Language<br />

Multilingual<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Kristel van Issum<br />

T +31 (0) 13 – 581 03 75<br />

E studio@trashweb.nl<br />

I www.trashweb.nl<br />

Agency:<br />

The Netherlands: Bureau Berbee,<br />

www.bureauberbee.nl<br />

France: A Propic, l.rousseau@home.nl<br />

Dance as sculpture<br />

T.r.a.s.h.<br />

in motion<br />

The choreographer and artistic director Kristel van Issum, composer Arthur van der Kuip and<br />

set-designer Paul van Weert are the brains and talent behind T.r.a.s.h. From an intense tangle<br />

of disciplines, this young company creates performances which carefully and precisely marry<br />

classical live-music and often violent physical language. T.r.a.s.h. produces contemporary,<br />

vigorous and dynamic dance performed by a group of artists demonstrating extreme physical<br />

and verbal qualities.<br />

The work focuses on construction and deconstruction, disintegration, and order and chaos.<br />

T.r.a.s.h.’s performances are born of ideas driven by the growing uncertainty about who we are<br />

and our lack of perspective regarding the future. T.r.a.s.h. draws its inspiration from the individual,<br />

his struggle with destiny and the accompanying state of convulsion.<br />

International<br />

Since their performance Pork-in-Loop (2005), T.r.a.s.h. has been travelling abroad increasingly to<br />

France, Italy, Spain and Germany. Mischa Kroes in Ballettanz praised their performance To File<br />

For Chapter 11: ‘One cannot help but gaze in fear and admiration at a performance that doesn’t<br />

fail to move you.’ T.r.a.s.h.’s most recent performance íSA will premiere in June 2008 during the<br />

Marseille Festival. íSA is a co-production of the Marseille Festival in France and the international<br />

festival Antartica in the Netherlands run by Productiehuis Brabant. This will be T.r.a.s.h.’s first<br />

experience of working in residency (Marseille, Le Manège - Maubeuge). They will also be making<br />

a working visit to the Operaestate/B-Motion Festival in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. Pork-in-Loop,<br />

To File For Chapter 11 and íSA will be performing in theatres abroad throughout 2008 and 2009.<br />

To File For Chapter 11<br />

Photo: Ernest Potters<br />

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Young and adventurous<br />

Production houses<br />

contemporary dance<br />

Alongside the companies, the Netherlands also boasts other places where makers are supervised<br />

in their first steps on the national and international dance market, and which provide room for<br />

experimentation. The role of these so-called production houses has become indispensable in the<br />

development of dance talent.<br />

Dansateliers<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Amy Gale<br />

T +31 (0) 10 – 436 99 37<br />

E info@dansateliers.nl<br />

I www.dansateliers.nl<br />

Dansateliers is Rotterdam’s professional dance workplace; a laboratory that opens its doors to<br />

both budding and experienced choreographers. Dansateliers offers talented choreographers<br />

the opportunity to do research, to develop a personal signature, to work with artists from other<br />

disciplines and to develop a dialogue with the audience. Dansateliers’ projects can take different<br />

forms: in or outside the studio, and varying from two weeks to several months. Choreographers<br />

can submit project proposals, but the organization also sometimes invites makers, and commissions<br />

are given for special works. All projects are backed with funding, production facilities and<br />

publicity. An artistic advisor is assigned to each project.<br />

Dansateliers participated in extensive international collaboration during the project The Migrant<br />

Body (sponsored by the EC), which took place in 2006/2007. This exchange project was a first<br />

step towards building up an international network. Dansateliers is expanding its participation<br />

in international projects in 2008-2012.<br />

Danshuis Station Zuid<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Marc Vlemmix<br />

T +31 (0) 13 – 582 10 21<br />

E info@stationzuid.com<br />

I www.stationzuid.com<br />

From a base in Tilburg, Danshuis Station Zuid focuses its professional and highly diverse skills<br />

on developing production and audience appreciation in the dance sector. Station Zuid chooses<br />

dance in which the technical and substantive qualities of the makers allow the creative process<br />

to take shape, and give the finished product a distinctly aesthetic component. Dance exuding<br />

craftsmanship, quality, perfection and eloquence. Station Zuid’s dance is human, and not afraid<br />

to be grating or disturbing. It chooses makers who have devised their own dance language,<br />

who are in the early stages of their career, with strong choreographic qualities in terms of form<br />

and structure, with evident musicality and with their own story to tell.<br />

Danshuis Station Zuid is a meeting place for people who make, perform and watch dance, and<br />

the ‘station’ has ‘tracks’ leading to other artists and organizations. An international junction for<br />

artistic exchange. So Station Zuid is keen to join in a European network of dance-houses.<br />

Every year, Station Zuid presents around seventy productions (for large and small theatres and<br />

on location). Dance productions by various makers are also produced and co-produced (including<br />

Edward Clug, Stephen Shropshire, Václav Kuneš, Pia Meuthen).<br />

52 The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

53


DansWerkplaats Amsterdam<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Ger Jager<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 689 17 89<br />

E ger@danswerkplaats.nl<br />

I www.danswerkplaats.nl<br />

DansWerkplaats Amsterdam (DWA) is a workplace and production house for young and adventurous<br />

contemporary dance-makers. DWA makes a critical selection, provides expert guidance<br />

and facilities, stimulates dance-makers in their individuality and craftsmanship and introduces<br />

them into the national and international dance arena as professional, innovative choreographs.<br />

The continuous stream of work and production forms at DWA provides a framework within<br />

which they can build up their own broad-based professional practice as a choreographer/<br />

dance-maker. The basic premise is: critical reflection on your own work, and development<br />

of highly expressive concepts in a unique and distinctive dance language.<br />

DWA has its own strong position within the Amsterdam, Dutch and international networks.<br />

DWA is currently producing work by three talented makers within the production house:<br />

Gabriella Maiorino, Giulia Mureddu and Hillary Blake Firestone. The work created by these<br />

three women is theatrical, visual and conceptually strong, and based on a traditional ‘dansante’<br />

approach. Available productions: Zoo (Maiorino); MightyMatPogo (Mureddu); Duiveldans II/Devil’s<br />

dance II (Hillary Blake Firestone).<br />

Korzo producties<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Leo Spreksel<br />

T +31 (0) 70 – 312 20 76<br />

E info@korzo.nl<br />

I www.korzo.nl<br />

Korzo producties is the Netherlands’ largest production house for dance. Based in The Hague for<br />

more than twenty years, it now has an important national function and a growing international<br />

reputation. Korzo producties has set itself the task of signalling, mobilizing and supervising<br />

choreographic talent. Alongside this, Korzo producties is the driving force behind events such<br />

as the bi-annual CaDance festival and various initiatives designed to give new impetus to the<br />

Dutch dance sector, including DansClick.<br />

Korzo producties introduces new choreographers with the talent, substance and individuality<br />

needed to elevate the future of Dutch dance. The production house also produces new shows<br />

by makers who have already been winning national (and increasingly international) favour for<br />

some time. Choreographers including André Gingras, Dylan Newcomb, Bruno Listopad, Ann Van<br />

den Broek, Sjoerd Vreugdenhil and Kenzo Kusuda all embarked on successful careers thanks to<br />

Korzo producties.<br />

54 The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

The Dutch on tour Dance<br />

55


Language<br />

English/German<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Wies Bloemen<br />

Agency: Frontaal <strong>Theater</strong>bureau<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 692 96 03<br />

E mirjam@frontaal.nl<br />

I www.frontaal.com, www.aya.nl<br />

Contemporary dance<br />

Danstheater AYA<br />

freed from its ivory tower<br />

Danstheater AYA has been creating successful ground-breaking dance theatre productions<br />

for young people since 1996. The company is firmly rooted in today’s reality and has freed<br />

contemporary dance from its ivory tower. AYA knows how to reach audiences via a language<br />

that is popular on the young scene: dance.<br />

Danstheater AYA communicates with the audience via recalcitrant dance theatre with humour.<br />

The youth productions always deal with ‘major issues’ such as being in love, feeling rejected,<br />

death, violence or fear; issues with an impact on life and therefore also on art. The dancers’<br />

personal experiences make the dance appealing to young audiences.<br />

International<br />

Nowadays, AYA is one of the leading producers of serious youth dance theatre in the Netherlands.<br />

But the company can also claim international success. They regularly perform in Belgium,<br />

Germany, Sweden and North-America, as well as putting on productions with international<br />

partners. Shows that have toured abroad include Bronstsluier/Rutted Veil, Angst/Fear, Drijfzand/<br />

Quicksand.<br />

Quicksand<br />

Photo: Ben van Duin<br />

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59


Language<br />

English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: David Middendorp<br />

Agency: Frontaal <strong>Theater</strong>bureau<br />

T +31 (0)20 – 692 96 03<br />

E mirjam@frontaal.com<br />

I www.frontaal.com<br />

Movement bursting<br />

David Middendorp<br />

with deft humour<br />

David Middendorp started dancing at 16 with the Koninklijk Conservatorium (Royal Conservatory)<br />

in The Hague. He was drawn more to modern dance, and switched to the Rotterdamse<br />

Dansacademie. After studying for three years at the Juilliard School, he danced for Introdans,<br />

the ballet of the Saarländisches Staatstheater and Ballet <strong>Theater</strong> München in Germany. His piece<br />

Dreamsketch, which he created for Ballet <strong>Theater</strong> München, became standard repertoire in 2005.<br />

In 2004, he returned to The Hague and composed the pas de deux Bread-peace. ‘A dance piece<br />

that will certainly stay with you because of its lack of pretension.’ (Haagsche Courant). He has<br />

also danced in work by Thom Stuart, Sanne van der Put and Bianca Holdermans.<br />

Frontaal <strong>Theater</strong>bureau has been producing David Middendorp’s work for the youth for some<br />

time now.<br />

The work that really stands out is Droomschetsen/Dreamsketch, a compilation of earlier and<br />

newly-created work. Two dancers perform a witty and cheerful dance together with a computer<br />

animation, in which they portray a dream world in the drowsy area between fantasy and reality.<br />

Whether loaves of bread are dancing or robots are falling in love with vacuum-cleaners, his<br />

movements are always bursting with deft humour. Droomschetsen/Dreamsketch concludes<br />

with an interactive workshop with the audience.<br />

International<br />

David Middendorp has regularly performed his productions abroad; some of his work has even<br />

been produced in Germany. Droomschetsen/Dreamsketch, which is made up of three short<br />

pieces of choreography, has toured countries including the US, Japan and Germany. In 2008,<br />

the show will appear at a festival in Reims, France. Frontaal is planning a tour of the US and<br />

Canada for 2009.<br />

Dreamsketch<br />

Photo: Ida Zenna<br />

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61


Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Jack Timmermans<br />

T +31 (0)76 – 513 81 25<br />

E jan@destilte.nl<br />

I www.destilte.com<br />

An effort to speak<br />

De Stilte<br />

the unspeakable<br />

Taking children out of their concrete everyday world into the abstract world of the senses: that<br />

is what dance company De Stilte (The Silence) has in mind. De Stilte wants to incite children to<br />

create stories of their own. Boundless stories of the imagination. The language of dance is the<br />

perfect way to open up amazing new horizons from a position of seeming abstraction.<br />

No spoken words are needed, which explains the company’s name.<br />

De Stilte aims to stimulate self-awareness in children without explanation. They try to speak the<br />

unspeakable, to say the things you cannot say. And letting children feel and taste art is how they<br />

achieve this goal. Performances will be accessible if children can recognize their own feelings<br />

and experience their own imagination. De Stilte’s performances stimulate children’s imagination,<br />

encouraging them to play and tell their own story; the story of the imagination. Children who<br />

do not play will never learn.<br />

International<br />

De Stilte aims at children aged 4 to 12. The company performs 140 times a year in Holland,<br />

Belgium, Germany and sometimes further abroad. In the last two years, they have has visited<br />

Finland, Morocco, Hungary and Austria with the production Speelvogels/Madcap (4+). In<br />

2008/2009 the productions Kartonbewoners/Carton dwellers (6+) and Speelvogels/Madcap will<br />

be taken for international tours; in 2008 they will travel to Hungary and Turkey. The press wrote<br />

about Speelvogels/Madcap under the headline ‘Play ingeniously incorporated in dance’: ‘The<br />

dance performance is really beautiful. And moreover, the dancers are capable of holding the<br />

tension for over 55 minutes.’ (Brabants Dagblad)<br />

Carton dwellers<br />

Photo: Hans Gerritsen<br />

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Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Roel Voorintholt<br />

T +31 (0) 26 – 351 21 11<br />

E welcome@introdans.nl<br />

I www.introdans.nl<br />

Introdans Ensemble<br />

Treasure trove<br />

voor de Jeugd<br />

of dance for the youth<br />

Introdans is dancing like never before. The company is now one of the top 3 in the Netherlands,<br />

pursuing a healthy ambition to perform high-quality dance to audiences from all walks of life.<br />

Introdans Ensemble voor de Jeugd (for the Youth) performs repertoire from the traditional<br />

treasure trove of dance, alongside work that has been specially created for the ensemble. There<br />

is no other company of their calibre in Europe that performs adult modern ballets for children<br />

from the age of 6 with a permanent ensemble. Introdans Ensemble voor de Jeugd holds a<br />

unique position and travels the world.<br />

International<br />

Internationalization is a spearhead of Introdans policy. The company performs regularly on<br />

foreign podia and at international festivals, and is often invited to accompany the Royal Family<br />

on state visits.<br />

Both ensembles perform productions across the world. Introdans can often be seen in theatres<br />

in Belgium and Germany and the company has made a number of appearances at the International<br />

Festival of Music and Dance in Bangkok, Thailand. Their performance during HM Queen<br />

Beatrix’s state visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2006 was among their all-time high points,<br />

which also include Introdans Ensemble voor de Jeugd’s repeated appearances at the International<br />

Children’s Theatre Festival in Edinburgh, Great-Britain, the STEPS Festival in Switzerland<br />

and in the New Victory Theatre on Broadway, New York.<br />

Introdans Educatie gives workshops, practical lessons and master classes to promote the<br />

productions of both ensembles. This specialized division of the company also organizes<br />

symposia and conferences on its own initiative and on request. Introdans Educatie serves<br />

as an international example in terms of advancing expertise in the field of dance.<br />

The Envelope<br />

Photo: Hans Gerritsen<br />

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Language<br />

None/English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Marco Gerris<br />

T +31 (0)20 – 468 54 22<br />

E pieter@olbe.nl<br />

I www.ish-events.com<br />

Agency: <strong>Theater</strong>bureau Slot, www.totslot.nl<br />

ISH<br />

Street culture in theatre<br />

ISH was founded in late 1999 by Marco Gerris. His idea was to create a production using<br />

disciplines that had never been seen in the theatre before, or never in this combination. Street<br />

culture and the nightclub scene; inspired by video clips and concerts, but also by cartoons,<br />

video games and films. The final result was a production and a company of the same name: ISH.<br />

The name is derived from the English suffix -ish, a word that is used when something cannot be<br />

defined precisely. Which is how you could describe ISH: their work cannot be classified into any<br />

one specific category. Street skate, flatland BMX and numerous other disciplines ‘from the street’<br />

are combined to form incomparable shows.<br />

ISH offers two-year training courses. This so-called ‘junior team’, Junior ISH, follows an intensive<br />

course at the ISH Institute to develop all-round skills in a wide range of disciplines. Students<br />

are given the opportunity of progressing into the professional cast. Junior ISH took part in the<br />

productions Freestylish, W-ISH and StylISH<br />

International<br />

The company toured the United States and Canada with the productions ISH and ISH 2.<br />

The production 4-ISH was a huge hit on international stages and was performed in the US,<br />

Canada, Shanghai, Japan, Brazil and a number of European countries. In early 2008, 4-ISH went<br />

on another small-scale tour of the United States and Canada. ISH receives highly favourable<br />

reviews and positive reactions from audiences at home and abroad. Future plans at ISH involve<br />

making more tours within the European borders.<br />

Triple-ISH<br />

Photo: Serge Ligtenberg<br />

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Language<br />

None<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Katjoesja Siccama<br />

T +31 (0)20 – 421 06 59<br />

E info@plankenkoorts.org<br />

I www.plankenkoorts.org<br />

Agency: Prima Rima, www.primarima.nl<br />

Jeugddanstheater<br />

Poetic, spectacular<br />

Plankenkoorts<br />

and funny dance<br />

Jeugddanstheater Plankenkoorts creates dance performances that make you want to jump up<br />

and move around. Giving you the freedom to exercise your own imagination, the images will<br />

touch your heart and soul.<br />

Plankenkoorts dancers, by nature, like to climb, fly, jump and fall. Acrobatic elements are thus<br />

always naturally incorporated in the performances. More than just spectacular tricks, they are<br />

part of the Plankenkoorts dance vocabulary and convey meaning as well as beauty and awe.<br />

Our challenge lies in combining abstract dance with narrative power. Abstract dance gives our<br />

young audience plenty of space to fill with their own unique fantasy.<br />

The narrative power stimulates and inspires the audience on an emotional and even philosophical<br />

level. This makes our performances very appealing to both adults and children!<br />

All performances are for children aged 4 and over.<br />

International<br />

Jeugddanstheater Plankenkoorts has performed in England, Belgium and Syria.<br />

In 2006, Risico!/Risk! impressed the international audience at DACI (Dance and Child International).<br />

With a gigantic climbing-frame, fabulous costumes, breath-taking aerial acrobatics,<br />

and sparkling dance performances, Risico!/Risk! is a performance that will have you dancing in<br />

the aisles. ‘A beautiful combination of craftsmanship, humour and emotion’ (Martin Overdrek,<br />

Theatres of Almere).<br />

2008 will see the premiere of Castles in the Air. Once again, Plankenkoorts succeeds in producing<br />

a magical mix of modern dance and aerial acrobatics. The performance is set inside an amazing<br />

transparent castle where your dreams take flight and reality can only be seen shimmering in the<br />

distance.<br />

Castles in the Air<br />

Photo: Mieke Kreunen<br />

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Language<br />

English/German/French/Spanish<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Arthur Rosenfeld<br />

Agency: Frontaal <strong>Theater</strong>bureau, www.frontaal.com<br />

T +31 (0)20 692 96 03<br />

E info@frontaal.com<br />

I www.frontaal.com, www.meekers.nl<br />

MEEKERS<br />

Serious fun dance-<br />

Uitgesproken Dans<br />

theatre for young and old<br />

Meekers Uitgesproken Dans (Meekers Outspoken Dance) makes dance accessible to a wide range<br />

of audiences, especially the young, with a movement and theatre language that is familiar,<br />

natural, and surprising. The Meekers repertoire is extensive and varied, but distinctive and<br />

unmistakable.<br />

Performances flirt with the boundaries between drama, cabaret and mime, and yet are always<br />

distinctly dance. They address existential questions and challenging themes with a disarmingly<br />

rebellious and touching (but biting) humour. They touch universal chords by being very personal,<br />

very human and very imaginative. The pieces are layered, and can be understood at different<br />

levels by different viewers. The narrative is clear, the manner of storytelling non-traditional.<br />

Arthur Rosenfeld’s most recent award is the Merit Prize 2006 from the Dancers Fund for his<br />

entire oeuvre and artistic direction of Meekers. According to the jury: ‘Perverse, cabaretesque and<br />

spiritual performances… a refined style, permeated by bitter earnest.’<br />

International<br />

Meekers Uitgesproken Dans receives regular invitations to perform abroad. For example, the<br />

production Timboektoe Trio’s/Timbuktu Trios (8+), a co-production with Tanzhaus NRW, opened<br />

the Take-off Junger Tanz Festival in Düsseldorf in 2006. The Düsseldorf Stadt Leben newspaper<br />

wrote ‘Mut zu skurriler Originalität…’ The performance of this production at a festival in Barcelona<br />

was accompanied by an educative project, for which Meekers translated the workbook into<br />

Catalonian.<br />

The two most recent shows created by Meekers, Poedelprijs/Poodle Prize (8+) and Murph! (4+)<br />

are equally suitable for international stages. Poedelprijs/Poodle Prize is set in a bright red arena<br />

where six characters challenge and put each other to the test. In Murph!, three little Murphs do<br />

everything they can to create havoc.<br />

Murph!<br />

Photo: Konrad Szymánski<br />

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Language<br />

On request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Wies Merkx<br />

T +31 (0) 30 – 223 96 81<br />

E info@merkxendansers.nl<br />

I www.merkxendansers.nl<br />

Sets the imagination<br />

Merkx & Dansers<br />

in motion<br />

Merkx & Dansers (M&D) is a production centre that creates dance productions for young<br />

audiences. M&D feels strong ties with children, can put themselves in their shoes effortlessly<br />

and sets the imagination in motion. They are good at dance work that stirs children’s senses.<br />

They feel strongly about: light-heartedness with profundity, and purity.<br />

M&D’s work is not confined to a particular dance technique. The company is creating a new<br />

category on the interface of drama and dance. Every piece is given its own colourful mixture<br />

of dance, song, drama and anything else that happens to be on hand. The company’s basis is<br />

modern classical dance, but M&D wants to move with the audience, often coloured children,<br />

and so sometimes breaks out into contemporary dance from various cultural origins.<br />

International<br />

M&D is part of a close-knit, international network. The company has a permanent relationship<br />

with Dansstationen from Sweden, for example, and their Salto youth dance festival. M&D also<br />

works alongside Tanzhaus NRW from Germany, Scene Bunte Wahne from Austria, Dance South<br />

West, Woking festival from England and Blickfelder from Switzerland. Accion Educativa is a new<br />

partner from Madrid.<br />

The company dances and debates at international festivals, often returning in subsequent years.<br />

Mutual curiosity is nothing new to them. M&D sets great store by the interesting dialogue that<br />

evolves. Their high quality is also recognized abroad. During the Blickfelder festival, the press<br />

said: ‘In De Koning Danst/The King Dances, M&D plays a virtuoso performance on the keyboard<br />

of vanity, jealousy and power. Wies Merkx, ‘grande dame’ of Dutch youth dance, manages to<br />

combine baroque gestures with modern movements.’<br />

Rock and The Rollies<br />

Photo: Michael Kooren<br />

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Headstrong drama<br />

using every available<br />

means<br />

If you wanted to capture the wide diversity of Dutch drama in a few words, the phrase ‘headstrong in<br />

style and content’ might spring to mind. Most Dutch theatre producers have an agreeable tendency<br />

to use the widest range of theatrical material you could imagine (text, music, movement, high and<br />

popular culture) to tell their own, unique story about the world. And preferably in a new and innovative<br />

style.<br />

Moreover, the Dutch theatre landscape features a very clear divide between what happens in<br />

the larger theatres and the slightly more conservative large-scale theatre companies on the one<br />

hand, and what happens in the smaller black box theatres, where the small-scale companies<br />

perform their more innovative productions on the other. These black box productions are firmly<br />

embedded in the history of the Dutch theatre system and attract large audiences. Ever since a<br />

group of young theatre-makers literally rebelled against the conventional sixties style of theatre<br />

in 1969, the system has always left plenty of leeway for experiments and innovation, giving rise<br />

to a defiant attitude among many makers. And this defiance has gradually found its way into<br />

the larger theatres. But the small theatres are still vital to the development and modernization<br />

of Dutch theatre; they are a constant source of new impulses for far-reaching innovation.<br />

Headstrong choices in large companies<br />

As a result, makers in the large theatres and with large-scale companies, such as Toneelgroep<br />

Amsterdam, Noord <strong>Nederland</strong>s Toneel and RO <strong>Theater</strong>, now also regularly opt for a defiant<br />

approach to their material. In his productions, director Ivo van Hove from Toneelgroep Amsterdam<br />

dissects major social institutions like marriage and politics. He took a long, hard look at<br />

politics in Romeinse Tragedies/Roman Tragedies (2007), which featured a consecutive rundown<br />

of nearly all Shakespeare’s Roman tragedies in one stage show. The form Van Hove chooses for<br />

his explorations is often memorable, largely thanks to the monumental efforts of his permanent<br />

scenery designer Jan Versweijveld. In the case of Romeinse Tragedie/Roman Tragedies, the stage<br />

was transformed into a political lobby room, complete with seating areas, televisions and even<br />

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a buffet and bar. The audience sat in a triangle between the politician/actors and unlike in most<br />

Dutch theatres, they were able to swap seats or step out to get a sandwich.<br />

Where Ivo van Hove often opts for an unusual style to tackle more traditional subjects but<br />

retains the original scripts, Noord <strong>Nederland</strong>s Toneel (NNT) in particular is not afraid to take a<br />

lighter and more unorthodox approach to the major classics. Artistic director Koos Terpstra is<br />

convinced that a theatre-maker should leave no stone unturned in his wish to involve the audience<br />

in the theme of the performance. And if this means drastically revamping a classic script,<br />

then so be it. Over the last few years, this has led to a few interesting experiments that turned<br />

out to hold wide appeal. For example, Terpstra added stand-up comedians to his productions of<br />

Brecht and Beckett plays, and MacBeth (2006) was adapted into a giant puppet show in which<br />

the actors played puppets in true style. It wasn’t blood that flowed during the performances,<br />

but sawdust. This light-hearted and slightly critical approach to classic scripts is one of the NNT’s<br />

strong points. The company is not only popular among adults (although many traditional<br />

theatre-goers had difficulty with the MacBeth puppet show); large numbers of young people<br />

are also regular visitors to their shows.<br />

Artistic director of the RO <strong>Theater</strong> Alize Zandwijk is also fond of tearing up traditional scripts. But<br />

having said this, she is certainly not afraid to present large theatre audiences in major theatres<br />

with completely new stage scripts. A good example was Onschuld/Innocence (2007) by the<br />

German playwright Dea Loher, which is about ordinary people trying to survive in a hard world.<br />

Zandwijk gave Loher’s characters slightly clownish traits. This softened the hard script, while the<br />

clumsiness of the characters served to magnify the tragedy of their situation. In Macbeth (2007)<br />

too, Zandwijk sought refuge in trivia and buffoonery. This time by presenting an insane circus<br />

of megalomania, in which an old man and an innocent child kind met with disaster. Zandwijk’s<br />

wayward choices in terms of acting style and stage design, which are regularly based on<br />

popular culture, circus and the grotesque, interestingly create different levels in the scripts she<br />

uses on stage. The other RO <strong>Theater</strong> director, Pieter Kramer, also relies on popular culture. For example,<br />

for the festive season he produced the hilarious Lang en Gelukkig/Happily Ever After (2007),<br />

grafted from English pantomime and packed with references to fairy-tales, Paris Hilton and hit<br />

musicals, and a performance on an ice rink: Daklozen on ice/Homeless on ice (2008).<br />

Smaller theatre-makers: in touch with their inner self<br />

The wilfulness of Dutch theatre-makers mainly manifests itself in their drive to use everything<br />

they can get their hands on. It doesn’t matter whether this is popular culture, film or music, as<br />

long as it can be used to fathom the depths of social relevance. This is not only the forte of large<br />

venues, but also of the smaller Dutch theatres, where theatre-makers are often far more outspoken<br />

in their choice of new vehicles for making their point. While large companies still base many<br />

of their productions on the classic body of theatre works, makers in the smaller theatres are<br />

often more in touch with their inner self. By writing their own scripts, basing their productions<br />

on research and improvisation, or by using music as the basic premise for the show.<br />

Some of this theatre is quite candidly political, such as pieces by Eric de Vroedt, who uses his<br />

mightysociety series to explore phenomena on the interface of politics, society and identity. In<br />

mightysociety2 and 3 (2005), De Vroedt looked at the motives for and the implications of suicide<br />

terrorism. mightysociety5 (2008) was a theatrical installation about young people exploring their<br />

identity and society (virtual or otherwise). The installation comprised a number of youngsters’<br />

rooms, where visitors were able to walk in and out, getting to know the miscellaneous residents.<br />

The young theatre company Wunderbaum also explores modern society. Their themes have<br />

included the background to violence (De rollende roadshow/The Rolling Road Show (2005), fear of<br />

asylum-seekers (Welcome to my Backyard, 2004) and the consumer society (Magna Plaza, 2007).<br />

The company usually finds an unusual location to maximize the effect, such as a shopping mall<br />

in the case of Magna Plaza, whereby the audience were seated on stools amongst the shoppers.<br />

The young director Laura van Dolron invented the term ‘stand-up philosophy’ for her productions.<br />

She often plays herself in her productions, using the tools of the stand-up comedian to<br />

light-heartedly address the confrontation between her own thinking and that of politicians and<br />

philosophers such as Sartre.<br />

Making a stand for tolerance<br />

Over the last few years, a wind of change has blown through the Netherlands’ attitude to a<br />

multicultural society. Under the influence of the hardening political climate, the tolerance of the<br />

nineteen-nineties has made way for a repressed fear of strangers, in which the imagined threat<br />

of Islam features strongly. Various makers in the small theatre circuit with concerns about this<br />

hardening are trying to make a stand for a more tolerant attitude, particularly with regard to<br />

76 The Dutch on tour Drama<br />

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77


Islam. The Egyptian-Dutch actor Sabri Saad el-Hamus produced a series of five shows based on<br />

the five pillars of Islam, which aimed to help audiences to understand the beauty and complexity<br />

of his religion. In Zekket/Charity (2008) he gave an impressive rendition of an alien being held<br />

in an institution where he is taught to adapt his standards and values in line with Western thinking.<br />

The nightmare script written by Ko van den Bosch and El-Hamus’ sensitive style of acting in<br />

a setting that closely resembles a psychiatric hospital, cleverly offsets the notion that everyone<br />

should think the same.<br />

In her shows Is-man (2006) and De gesluierde monologen/Veiled Monologues (2003), theatremaker<br />

Adelheid Roosen comments on the relationship between men and women according<br />

to Islam. She spoke at great length with many Muslims (men and women) before incorporating<br />

their stories into a theatre production. There are more companies that reflect upon multicultural<br />

society, including MC (Cosmic/Made in da Shade) and DNA (where El-Hamus has recently been<br />

made artistic director). These companies focus specifically on performances and subjects that<br />

are not only interesting or relevant to white Dutch audiences.<br />

Music enhances meaning<br />

Music is often used to enhance the meaning of a production in the Dutch theatre world. Numerous<br />

companies focus specifically on producing musical theatre, but not just moulded around<br />

classical music, but often around contemporary music too. The Leiden company De Veenfabriek,<br />

for example, has few political aspirations but is both musical and headstrong, going in<br />

search of new ways to incorporate music into their productions. The company is led by musical<br />

theatre-maker Paul Koek, who enjoyed previous successes during his days as joint artistic director<br />

at ZT/Hollandia in Eindhoven with Johan Simons. The productions and small-scale shows<br />

produced by Paul Koek vary from musical and colourful shows like a pop concert of Euripides’<br />

rarely performed Smekelingen/Vagrants (2006), via a cross-over between poetry and tap dance<br />

in Voet /Foot (2005/2007), to an intimate and moving portrait of Sjaan, a real-life working-class<br />

woman from Leiden (Sjaan, geen Jeanet/Sjaan, not Jeanet (2006)). Koek has given a number of<br />

young theatre-makers/musicians the opportunity to develop their talents within his company.<br />

Under the name Touki Delphine, they work on productions that, although made difficult to describe<br />

by the rebellious use of video, installations and music, always sizzle with the energy and<br />

enthusiasm of the makers. Another musical theatre company that offers room for young talent<br />

alongside its own activities is Orkater, an old hand on the Dutch stage. Music is an important<br />

facet of their productions, which move from pop concerts, via movement theatre, to musical<br />

drama featuring historical topics.<br />

Young talent in production houses<br />

Companies are not the only places where young theatre-makers are given room to develop.<br />

They are also welcome in the so-called production houses and workplaces. These institutes<br />

play a unique role in the Dutch theatre system in terms of nurturing young theatre-makers in<br />

their development. Inside the protective walls of <strong>Theater</strong>werkplaats Gasthuis-Frascati (a recent<br />

merger), Productiehuis Brabant or Generale Oost, for example, they can carry out research,<br />

produce small shows and explore the reaches of their own language, often supervised by<br />

coaches and/or dramaturgists. Even though the productions are never intended to appeal to<br />

large audiences (they are after all only teaching projects), shows have been known to become<br />

big hits. The dramatic productions Broeders/Brothers and Toe, Vader drink.../Come on father, drink...<br />

made at Gasthuis by Jetse Batelaan, and Hokwerda’s Kind/Hokwerda’s Child by Madeleine Jutten-Matzer<br />

attracted full houses throughout the country. Production houses also regularly work<br />

together with a range of summer theatre festivals that draw in large crowds in the Netherlands<br />

every summer. Festivals are the perfect vehicle for young talent to present new work to a wide<br />

audience. And to confront the general public with innovative theatre. Production house festivals<br />

are the ultimate place for young theatre-makers to develop autonomously and to search for the<br />

style and content of theatre production that most appeals to them.<br />

The fact that young makers are given the opportunity to develop their own language inside a<br />

production house is an important aspect of the Dutch theatre landscape, as it allows them to<br />

reinforce the diversity of Dutch theatre in their own way. It is their fresh perspective, their new<br />

language for producing theatre and their sheer diversity that will again permeate the tiniest<br />

capillaries of the very special and unique world of Dutch theatre.<br />

Robbert van Heuven<br />

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Language<br />

English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Kuno Bakker, Gillis Biesheuvel,<br />

Manja Topper, Oscar van Woensel<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 421 49 90<br />

E doodpaard@doodpaard.nl<br />

I www.doodpaard.nl<br />

Agency: Menno Plukker Theatre Agent Inc.,<br />

www.mennoplukker.com<br />

Toneelgezelschap<br />

Energetic performances<br />

Dood Paard<br />

without director<br />

Toneelgezelschap Dood Paard (Theatre Company Dead Horse) is a cooperative of actors that<br />

devises productions without a director. Language and humour are the foremost weapons of<br />

this politically engaged company. They explore the boundaries of theatre convention by means<br />

of revised versions of classic Greek and Shakespearean scripts or brand new texts. Although the<br />

productions can vary enormously in terms of concept, they are all fuelled by a common sense<br />

of involvement, energy and awareness. The audience is more of a witness than a spectator, and<br />

is constantly provoked to take up a stance. With regard to aesthetics, poetry is mixed with trivia,<br />

classical with contemporary.<br />

A vital element of Dood Paard’s productions is that performances must remain dynamic from<br />

the opening to the closing night. The staging that develops during rehearsals is seen as a<br />

starting point rather than the finished article.<br />

International<br />

Dood Paard has been touring Europe with its productions since 1995. medEia by Oscar van<br />

Woensel, 40,000 sublime and beautiful thoughts based on Peter Handke and Titus based on<br />

William Shakespeare have all been staged in various European countries. The company created<br />

a performance using scripts by Gesine Danckwert to be performed in the Schauspielhaus<br />

in Vienna. In the autumn of 2007, Dood Paard toured the United States and appeared at the<br />

Melbourne Arts Festival in Australia. Productions are in principle put on in English, and projected<br />

translations are provided in exceptional circumstances. In spring 2009, Dood Paard will be taking<br />

Titus on a tour of the US, Canada and Singapore. The international repertoire comprises: Titus,<br />

medEia, ECO and 40,000 sublime and beautiful thoughts.<br />

Titus<br />

Photo: Sanne Peper<br />

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Language<br />

Dutch/Turkish/English/German/French<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Adelheid Roosen<br />

T +31 (0) 6 – 16 78 80 08<br />

E info@femaleeconomy.nl<br />

I www.femaleeconomy.nl<br />

Female Economy<br />

Be touched by the<br />

Foundation<br />

beauty of the stranger<br />

Based on the assumption that everything in life is an illusion, Female Economy Foundation (FEF)<br />

is trying to inspire a new economic way of thinking via Art: ‘Come near, just come to me’, Hélène<br />

Cixous. Adelheid Roosen, artistic director of FEF, is fascinated by the Arab culture and deeply<br />

involved in the backgrounds of Islamic women and men living in Western Europe. ‘To really<br />

meet and be touched by the beauty of the stranger.’<br />

FEF is dedicated to producing international drama that focuses on cultural issues, hoping to create<br />

a celebration of differences within society. Roosen uses personal accounts to create intimate<br />

portraits of migrant life and rituals, which she then cleverly weaves into probing monologues,<br />

embellished by dancing dervishes and music played on traditional instruments.<br />

De Gesluierde Monologen/Veiled Monologues is a vigorous, startling and poetic portrait of intimacy,<br />

sensuality and love. A cast of four women from Islamic backgrounds perform these hilarious,<br />

shocking and moving monologues.<br />

Is.Man unveils the secretive world and complex motivations that underlie the tradition of<br />

honour killings in some Muslim societies.<br />

International<br />

FEF productions have been performed on various stages. Diverse audiences in theatres and<br />

cultural centres, Dutch Parliament, the police department and social authorities, were either<br />

deeply moved, enthusiastic, embarrassed or appalled.<br />

De Gesluierde Monologen/Veiled Monologues (2003) has been performed in various European<br />

cities, and in Turkey and the USA. English, Turkish and French translations (Gesluierde Monologen/<br />

Veiled Monologues only) and German subtitles are available. Text and accompanying interview<br />

were published in ‘Theatre’, on behalf of the Yale School of Drama.<br />

Is.Man (2005) has been performed in the Netherlands, Belgium and New York and at festivals<br />

in Amman and Istanbul in 2008.<br />

Veiled Monologues<br />

Photo: Joris van Bennekom<br />

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Language<br />

English/on request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Marjorie Boston<br />

T +31 (0)20 – 606 50 50<br />

E info@mconline.nl<br />

I www.mconline.nl<br />

Exploring the realities<br />

MC<br />

of urban Europe<br />

Urban Europe is reflected in MC’s plays, the people the company works with and how it associates<br />

with its audience. The result is as much visual and physical as it is literary, mixing classical<br />

culture with street culture, and old-school theatre with multi-media technology.<br />

MC develops new plays and theatre performances, runs projects in clubs and at schools, and organizes<br />

multi-media events combining guest DJ’s, theatrical performances, art exhibits, movies<br />

and live music. It has pioneered multi-media technology in theatre productions, produced short<br />

films and video-clips and has its own record label for distributing music and video clips linked to<br />

their theatre projects. Each project has a core artistic team, which includes guests from different<br />

disciplines, depending on the theme: actors, directors, artists, DJ’s, musicians, writers, rappers,<br />

painters, computer programmers, designers, young and old.<br />

MC is a new company uniting the scope and ambition of Cosmic theatre, one of the first multicultural<br />

companies in Europe, with the street savvy and artistic innovation of Made in da Shade,<br />

pioneers in urban theatre. The company is presently building its own theatre in Amsterdam that<br />

will open in 2009.<br />

International<br />

Over the last few years, MC has toured different projects abroad and has been involved in<br />

numerous co-productions. Some recent examples include: Push which toured in Suriname in<br />

2006 and will tour again in 2008 - the great response led to a Surinamese version of the play and<br />

educational workshops; and Sleepwalking democracy which was an international coproduction<br />

with the Los Angeles Poverty Department, developed and performed in Amsterdam in 2006.<br />

MC has recently set up a project with the Royal Theatre Stratford East from London, that will be<br />

presented in London and Amsterdam in 2008.<br />

Conversations with Ice<br />

Photo: Pepijn van den Broeke<br />

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Language<br />

English/German<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Marien Jongewaard<br />

T +31 (0)20 – 463 67 21<br />

E postbus@nieuwwest.demon.nl<br />

I www.nieuwwest.com<br />

Takes people to<br />

Nieuw West<br />

unknown places<br />

Nieuw West/Stichting Plotloos drama is the movement theatre company of performer-director<br />

Marien Jongewaard. Nieuw West’s performances transport their audiences to unknown and<br />

sometimes unnerving territory. The acting style is fanatical, physical, musical, theatrical and risky.<br />

The texts vary between the banal and the philosophical, the poetic and the kitsch, and the<br />

subjects can broadly be defined as ‘the modern man and his inhibitions and conventions’.<br />

Marien Jongewaard studied dance/expression and mime (movement theatre) in Amsterdam.<br />

In 1980, along with Dik Boutkan and Rob de Graaf, he founded the Nieuw West movement<br />

theatre company.<br />

International<br />

Lautsprecher Arnolt by Nieuw West and Productiehuis Rotterdam is an ‘opera for loudspeakers’ by<br />

Huba de Graaff (music) and Erik Ward Geerlings (libretto and direction). Bart Visser designed and<br />

built the various speaker installations. Marien Jongewaard portrays a human loudspeaker interpreting<br />

the provocative Austrian writer Arnolt Bronnen (1895-1959), who was friends with both<br />

Bertolt Brecht and Joseph Goebbels. The life and work of agitator Arnolt Bronnen encompassed<br />

all the political and artistic extremes of his age. Marien Jongewaard plays a neurotic man who<br />

is trying to survive in a cacophonic world filled with speakers: he is friends with speakers, falls in<br />

love with speakers, and manipulates and betrays speakers. As half a century of world<br />

history passes by, the speakers build into a frenzy of numbers and noise.<br />

Lautsprecher Arnolt was performed at the Fadjr Festival in Iran and in Belgium. Previous to<br />

this work, Marien Jongewaard toured Europe and the United States as co-choreographer with<br />

Truus Bronkhorst.<br />

Lautsprecher Arnolt<br />

Photo: <strong>Theater</strong> in beeld, René den Engelsman<br />

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Language<br />

English/German/on request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Koos Terpstra; with effect from 1<br />

January 2009 Ola Mafaalani<br />

T +31 (0)50 – 311 33 99<br />

E info@nnt.nl<br />

I www.nnt.nl<br />

Noord <strong>Nederland</strong>s<br />

From radical adaptations<br />

Toneel<br />

to new work<br />

The Noord <strong>Nederland</strong>s Toneel (NNT) is a professional theatre company based in Groningen, the<br />

Netherlands. The company produces an average of 13 productions a year, ranging from radical<br />

adaptations of classical world theatre to contemporary new work, staged on location or in a<br />

theatre.<br />

New productions can take any shape or form. Each year, two productions will go on tour to<br />

the larger city theatres of the Netherlands and Belgium; other productions are performed in<br />

the company theatre in Groningen, <strong>Theater</strong> de Machinefabriek.<br />

In January 2009, the internationally acclaimed director Ola Mafaalani will take over as the<br />

company’s new artistic director. Mafaalani is a talented and committed artist. In her work she<br />

charts the outer limits of the dramatic arts and integrates other forms like dance and music<br />

into her performances. She is renowned for her expressive and emotionally explosive style.<br />

International<br />

The Noord <strong>Nederland</strong>s Toneel gained huge success with its radical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s<br />

Macbeth. The tragedy was staged as a puppet theatre show and has been performed<br />

in the Netherlands, Germany and Romania. The play was nominated for the Audience Favourite<br />

Prize in the Netherlands and won the Star of the Year award in Germany.<br />

The new artistic director Ola Mafaalani has a lot of experience working abroad. She has worked<br />

in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. As artistic director, Mafaalani will strive to develop the<br />

company’s international profile. Long term relationships with theatres, festivals and individual<br />

artists abroad are crucial. The company has already set up contacts with Winterthur, Strasbourg,<br />

Los Angeles, Boston, Brussels, Vienna and Oldenburg and plans to gradually expand this number<br />

over the coming years.<br />

Macbeth<br />

Photo: Karel Zwaneveld<br />

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Language<br />

English/on request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Mirjam Koen, Ton Lutgerink and<br />

Gerrit Timmers<br />

T +31 (0) 10 – 478 02 81<br />

E info@ot-rotterdam.nl<br />

I www.ot-rotterdam.nl<br />

Onafhankelijk<br />

Interdisciplinary<br />

Toneel/ Opera O.T.<br />

theatre and opera<br />

Onafhankelijk Toneel/Opera O.T. (O.T.) is led by Mirjam Koen, Ton Lutgerink and Gerrit Timmers<br />

(from the worlds of theatre, modern dance and visual arts), and general manager Corry Prinsen.<br />

In O.T.’s productions, these disciplines are put to innovative use, and since the eighties, performances<br />

also incorporate live video. In 1988, O.T. began producing opera alongside theatre and<br />

dance.<br />

The company’s hallmark is its interdisciplinary mix of theatre or opera with visual arts and<br />

dance. O.T. is one of the Netherlands’ leading companies, and not only in the field of opera. Its<br />

productions have won many illustrious theatre prizes. For opera, O.T. has branched out to larger<br />

theatres (such as the Muziektheater and Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam, and the Rotterdamse<br />

Schouwburg) and has collaborated with the <strong>Nederland</strong>se Opera or the Nationale Reisopera on<br />

several occasions.<br />

International<br />

O.T. has staged performances (theatre, dance and opera) successfully abroad, for example in<br />

the United States and at festivals in France. Commenting on the opera The Death of Klinghoffer,<br />

Trouw wrote: ‘Was beauty ever more poignant?’ In 2008, the ISPA invited Opera O.T. to a Pitch<br />

Session in New York for its most recent opera Kwasi & Kwame - The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi.<br />

The Volkskrant wrote: ‘Opera O.T., which has a reputation to uphold when it comes to highquality<br />

opera productions, aimed very high with this project, but has once again delivered.’<br />

O.T. would like to continue international tours with their operas.<br />

Kwasi & Kwame – The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi<br />

Photo: Ben van Duin<br />

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Language<br />

On request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Marc van Warmerdam,<br />

Nicolien Luttels, Stefan Dijkman<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 606 06 00<br />

E info@orkater.nl<br />

I www.orkater.nl<br />

Shaping ideas<br />

Orkater<br />

about music theatre<br />

Music Theatre Company Orkater primarily makes contemporary music theatre, which is always<br />

newly written and newly composed. The freedom with which performances are conceived,<br />

made and presented is paramount to Orkater. The venue can vary from studio theatre to<br />

municipal theatre and from museum to summer festival, a versatility that allows Orkater to<br />

reach a varied audience of around 60,000 visitors per year.<br />

Although it could be said that the clear ‘Orkater signature’ makes their productions slightly<br />

predictable, their shows always vary in character, scale and cast. Orkater does not work with<br />

a fixed group of performers. To many actors, musicians, directors, composers and text writers,<br />

Orkater is the place where they can shape their own ideas about music theatre.<br />

International<br />

Orkater aims to present suitable productions abroad, preferably in the language of the host<br />

country. From 1997 on, several productions were performed not only throughout Europe but<br />

also in Israel, Surinam and Indonesia. Valse Wals, Bankstel, Zucht (triptych, translated as Deafening<br />

Silence) visited the International Theatre Festival in St. Peterborough. The press in Moscow wrote:<br />

‘Beautifully simple, epic despite the absence of words, and brilliantly performed. This was easily<br />

the best performance of the festival.’<br />

Orkater is currently in contact with the Intercity Festival in Italy concerning the productions<br />

susies haarlok – De saaiheid is te snijden/The Edge of Boredom, Koud Meisje/Miss Frost and Deafening<br />

Silence. This latter production, a triptych by Ria Marks and Titus Tiel Groenestege,<br />

was made into a film entitled False Waltz in 2006 and won the Prix Italia and the Canadian Rocky<br />

TV Award. It was also nominated for an International Emmy Award.<br />

Miss Frost<br />

Photo: Ben van Duin<br />

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Language<br />

English/German/French<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Keez Duijves, Thijs de Wit,<br />

Stije Hallema, Daan van West, Steven van Hulle<br />

T +31 (0) 6 – 48 15 82 70<br />

E info@pipslab.nl<br />

I www.pipslab.nl<br />

Never a<br />

PIPS:lab<br />

comfortable ride<br />

For the last ten years, PIPS:lab has been producing raw, expressive, visually stunning, interactive,<br />

multimedia performances. The software they write themselves has put them at the forefront of<br />

live video editing. Technology, particularly video and audio, plays a dramatic theatrical part in<br />

their performances. The footage shot during a performance is swiftly cut and edited, the context<br />

changed and set to music. This makes the ‘video’ as ‘alive’ as the actors and musicians. The ensuing<br />

collaboration between actors, visuals, live music and the audience, in which the computer<br />

serves as a mixer, is surprisingly innovative and a challenge to your powers of perception.<br />

The music is eclectic; a combination of jazz, hip hop, nursery rhymes and pop. The audience<br />

is never given a comfortable ride; they are expected to take an active part in the performance.<br />

PIPS:lab is creating new interdisciplinary combinations such as video-rock-operas, internet-upload-sessions,<br />

interactive installation, live-VJ-performances (lumasol) or whatever else springs<br />

to their mind. The productions are always humorous and light-hearted, while touching upon<br />

serious current topics such as religion, death and the reliability of the media.<br />

International<br />

PIPS:lab performs throughout Europe in countries such as Italy, Poland, Germany, Spain,<br />

Hungary, France and Belgium. They also build interactive installations, which are shown<br />

throughout Europe. The Lumasolator was recently bought by the ZKM Karlsruhe.<br />

Alongside their live-VJ-performances, PIPs:lab also performs Wortal Combat III, The washing<br />

powder conspiracy and DieSpace outside the Netherlands.<br />

The Washing Powder Conspiracy<br />

Photo: PIPS:lab<br />

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Language<br />

On request (subtitles)<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Alize Zandwijk<br />

T +31 (0)10 – 404 68 88<br />

E margo@rotheater.nl, tobias@rotheater.nl<br />

I http://rotheater.nl/English<br />

Three different styles<br />

RO <strong>Theater</strong><br />

in one company<br />

The RO <strong>Theater</strong> is one of the three largest Dutch theatre companies. Based in the city of<br />

Rotterdam, the company travels all over the Netherlands and abroad. The company presents a<br />

varied repertoire by a range of theatre makers for different audience groups. It has a permanent<br />

actors ensemble and performs in large and medium-sized theatres.<br />

Alize Zandwijk is the artistic director of the RO <strong>Theater</strong> and one of the permanent directors<br />

along with Pieter Kramer. They are currently joined by the young guest director Jetse Batelaan.<br />

Alize Zandwijk’s work includes Shakespeare as well as Brecht and contemporary playwrights<br />

such as Marina Carr, Arne Sierens and Dea Loher. She is internationally renowned for her raw,<br />

physical style which she creates with a strong group of actors. Pieter Kramer’s work is more playful,<br />

with a nod to the musical and with a mix of popular and high art suited to a broad audience.<br />

Jetse Batelaan’s work is pure and philosophical. With a minimal use of words, his performances<br />

go straight to the heart.<br />

The RO <strong>Theater</strong> has won many prizes and its productions are often selected for the Dutch and<br />

Flemish theatre festival.<br />

International<br />

The RO <strong>Theater</strong> coproduces regularly with KVS Brussels (Belgium) and Thalia <strong>Theater</strong> in Hamburg<br />

(Germany). During the last ten years, the company has performed at many international festivals<br />

and on many international stages. Alize Zandwijk also directs at the Thalia <strong>Theater</strong> in Hamburg.<br />

Jetse Batelaan is a new prodigy in international theatre (Wiener Festwochen 2008).<br />

The following productions are available for international touring: Meiskes en Jongens/Girls and<br />

Boys, Moeders/Mothers, Onschuld/Innocence, Baal (all directed by Alize Zandwijk) and Hoofd/Head<br />

(directed by Jetse Batelaan).<br />

Girls and Boys<br />

Photo: Pan Sok<br />

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Language<br />

Turkish/subtitles on request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Şaban Ol and Celil Toksöz<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 580 03 84<br />

E info@rast.nl<br />

I www.rast.nl<br />

Unexpected, unorthodox,<br />

<strong>Theater</strong> RAST<br />

intercultural theatre<br />

Rast’s theatre performances have a story and form that straddles the borders of different<br />

cultures. Their theatre productions present an unexpected and unorthodox view on present<br />

day intercultural situations, and address the audience directly.<br />

Rast wants to be a source of inspiration for a new generation of young theatre makers. They<br />

want to contribute to the development and promotion of young people from mixed cultural<br />

backgrounds that have a talent for acting and directing.<br />

International<br />

Rast promotes an international profile and places special emphasis on exchange, co-operation<br />

and co-production with theatre partners in Europe and Turkey. The company performs across<br />

Europe and has a close bond with Turkey. Both artistic directors are originally from Turkey, and<br />

therefore most of their plays are either performed in Turkish with Dutch subtitles or in Dutch.<br />

The plays De Kus van de Roos/Kiss from the Rose, Solitude/Solitude (Yalnızlıklar) and Noorderlicht/<br />

Northern Light (Kuzey Işiği) have received positive reviews in the Turkish media.<br />

Other international performances include: Ahmed Arif and Antigone in Turkey and Germany;<br />

and Life, Lost, Love & Luggage by Jong Rast (the Rast academy for young theatre makers) in Turkey.<br />

Tolken/Interpreters, a joint production by Rast and Toneelgroep Ceremonia, premiered in January<br />

2008 and will travel through Belgium before ending its tour in the Netherlands. Next season, the<br />

production Dilek will begin its tour of Turkey and Germany.<br />

Besides theatre shows, Rast has set up a summer academy in West Turkey where they will hold<br />

annual international theatre programmes.<br />

Interpreters<br />

Photo: Tania Desmet<br />

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Language<br />

On request (English, German, French)<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Ivo van Hove<br />

T +31 (0)20 – 531 84 84<br />

E info@toneelgroepamsterdam.nl<br />

I www.toneelgroepamsterdam.nl<br />

Major theatre<br />

Toneelgroep Amsterdam<br />

for major audiences<br />

Toneelgroep Amsterdam is the largest subsidized theatre company in the Netherlands. They are<br />

resident at the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, from where they put on at least six large-scale<br />

productions and several re-runs of successful performances per season. Tradition and innovation<br />

go hand-in-hand at Toneelgroep Amsterdam, with adaptations of classics, new repertoire and<br />

cross-over productions in which the company searches for a new theatre language through a<br />

combination of drama, music and audiovisual art. Toneelgroep Amsterdam Works together with<br />

national and international theatre-makers and partners. Guest directors are regularly invited<br />

from the Netherlands and abroad.<br />

International<br />

For the last few years, Toneelgroep Amsterdam has been working actively with international<br />

partners and guest directors including Krzysztof Warlikowski and Christoph Marthaler, and<br />

performing in front of foreign audiences. They plan to continue along this path in the future, and<br />

even extend their international focus. In the ’07/’08 season, Romeinse Tragedies/Roman Tragedies<br />

was a guest performance at the Wiener Festwochen, <strong>Theater</strong>formen and Le Festival D’Avignon.<br />

An American tour has been planned for the ’08/’09 season: the performance Opening Night<br />

will be performed at BAM (New York) and UCLA (Los Angeles) and Rouw Siert Electra/Mourning<br />

becomes Electra at the O’Neill festival (Chicago). A co-production with the German festival<br />

Ruhrtriennale is in the pipeline; an adaptation of the film Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and His<br />

Brothers by Luchino Visconti, directed by Ivo van Hove. Preparations for collaboration with the<br />

California Institute of the Arts are in full swing and the partnership with Hamburger Schauspielhaus<br />

will be continued.<br />

Roman Tragedies<br />

Photo: Jan Versweyveld<br />

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Language<br />

On request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Rob Klinkenberg a.i.<br />

T +31 (0)26 – 443 76 55<br />

E info@oostpool.nl<br />

I www.oostpool.nl<br />

Comfort and<br />

Toneelgroep<br />

understanding in<br />

Oostpool<br />

a complex world<br />

Toneelgroep Oostpool is an energetic and committed Arnhem company comprising young<br />

theatre-makers who present their personal themes in the context of events in a complex world;<br />

a world that we think we understand via technology, politics and rational thinking, but which<br />

seems to be slowly slipping out of our grasp. They do this by means of theatrical metaphors,<br />

which have been used to explain the inexplicable since the beginnings of time. Metaphors<br />

that provide comfort and understanding, and make you feel less alone.<br />

As from 2009, the company will have two young resident directors; Marcus Azzini and Erik<br />

Whien, who will work under artistic director Rob Klinkenberg and business director Alex Kühne.<br />

Toneelgroep Oostpool has an ensemble of eight actors.<br />

International<br />

Toneelgroep Oostpool has performed abroad on several occasions over the last few years.<br />

They exchanged repertoire with ’t Arsenaal from Mechelen in the spring of 2005; a triptych<br />

about loss was performed in Belgium as part of this exchange project. The musical success Brel,<br />

about a Belgian singer of the same name, appeared in Belgium and Germany (Berlin, Munich)<br />

on several occasions in 2006. De Nimfen/The Nymphs, about the relationship between sisters,<br />

was performed twice in Wiesbaden in June 2006.<br />

The production Oude Honger/Old Hunger is currently attracting attention from Spain; a translation<br />

is available. Brel is also set to tour more extensively and will be translated into English.<br />

Toneelgroep Oostpool’s future plans include a structural partnership with two foreign countries<br />

that have triggered their interest: the neighbouring province of Nordrhein-Westfalen in<br />

Germany and Marcus Azzini’s own native country, Brazil.<br />

Brel<br />

Photo: Ben van Duin<br />

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Language<br />

On request<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic director: Paul Koek<br />

T +31 (0) 71 – 331 80 53<br />

E info@veenfabriek.nl<br />

I www.veenfabriek.nl<br />

Progressive music<br />

Veenfabriek<br />

theatre ensemble<br />

Veenfabriek is a music theatre ensemble founded in 2004 by composer and director Paul Koek.<br />

Music and sound are among the core issues of the Veenfabriek’s artistic vision, which is why the<br />

ensemble includes as many professional musicians as trained actors. Working within an interdisciplinary<br />

framework, the Veenfabriek performs in theatres and museums, at festivals and on<br />

specific locations. The company does not only produce high-quality musical productions, but<br />

is also engaged in research into the use of music (more specifically pop music aesthetics) and<br />

non-conventional instruments in a theatrical setting. For instance, the Veenfabriek has joined<br />

forces with Leiden University to form and set up a new orchestra consisting exclusively of sirens.<br />

The Veenfabriek is a place where reality is tangible and wilfulness rules. A place where artists,<br />

scientists, new talent, students and professionals work together to convey their reflections on<br />

society in an aesthetic form that will inevitably touch the audience.<br />

International<br />

The Veenfabriek has performed in Spain, France, Germany, Belgium and Greece. Euripides’<br />

tragedy Suppliants was co-produced with the Greek Theseum Ensemble. It went on an extended<br />

Dutch tour and two performances of the show in the antique theatre of Epidauros (GR) were<br />

attended by 3,000 spectators. The Veenfabriek also maintains a close relationship with the Belgian<br />

company <strong>Theater</strong> Antigone. Dédé le Taxi, a collaboration between the Veenfabriek, <strong>Theater</strong><br />

Antigone (BE) and Compagnie du Tire-Laine (FR), attracted crowds of over 15,000 spectators in<br />

the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Further, Track Poetry, an accessible, poetic concert that<br />

does not shun the confrontation between word and music, will be performed at the Palabras<br />

y Musica Festival in Spain in 2008. Finally, Sharing the Same Shade, musical theatre based on a<br />

survey of juvenile delinquents and inspired by pop music aesthetics, appeared at the Holland<br />

Festival 2007.<br />

Sharing the Same Shade<br />

Photo: Jochem Jurgens<br />

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Language<br />

English<br />

Contact<br />

Artistic direction: Walter Bart, Wine Dierickx, Matijs<br />

Jansen, Maarten van Otterdijk, Maartje Remmers,<br />

Marleen Scholten<br />

T +31 (0) 20 – 488 95 53<br />

E marscholt@hotmail.com<br />

I www.wunderbaum.nl<br />

Serious emotional lines<br />

Wunderbaum<br />

with lightheartedness<br />

Wunderbaum is an actors’ collective comprising five permanent actors and a designer. They<br />

mainly create theatre on location with a social message. Never moralising, simply raising issues<br />

with the audience and themselves. They shun cynicism, but fuel their work with the love they<br />

feel for the characters representing their themes. Serious emotional lines run through their work,<br />

driven by lightheartedness and humour. They write their own scripts on the basis of improvisation.<br />

And they work with various dramaturgists, but without a director.<br />

This actors’ collective opts for theatre on location because they want their work to be seen<br />

within a social framework. Wunderbaum confronts the public with reality, generating a feeling<br />

of alienation when people come together in a place that has no theatrical context. This also<br />

attracts people who are curious about what is going on in their neighbourhood and would<br />

not normally visit a theatre.<br />

Once a year, the actors’ group Wunderbaum puts on one production in Rotterdam (Productiehuis<br />

Rotterdam) and one in Gent (at NTGent). Themes of the ten productions and the film from<br />

the last six years include: xenophobia, religion, issues surrounding asylum-seekers, urbanization<br />

and poverty.<br />

International<br />

Wunderbaum has been performing abroad since 2002. The collective took the hit production<br />

Lost Chord Radio to Ljubljana, Los Angeles and Basel, and they are set to go to Milan shortly.<br />

Everybody for Berlusconi (in partnership with the Slovenian dance company Betontanc)<br />

was performed in Berlin and Ljubljana, and Welcome in my backyard was staged in Udine.<br />

In September 2008, Magna Plaza will tour in Budapest. This summer, a new production will<br />

be taken to the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Rumania and Turkey. Wunderbaum has been invited to devise<br />

a production for the European Capital of Culture Linz in 2009.<br />

Magna Plaza<br />

Photo: Fred Debrock<br />

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107


Colophon<br />

Editor and producer<br />

Moon Saris<br />

Editorial board<br />

Jennemiek Leijssen/Daniella Groenberg, TIN<br />

Editorials<br />

Robbert van Heuven, Moon Saris,<br />

Marcelle Schots<br />

English Translations<br />

Vertaalbureau Taalcentrum-VU<br />

Design<br />

T2 Ontwerp<br />

Nothing from this publication may be<br />

reproduced or published by print, photocopy,<br />

microfilm or any other means (including<br />

electronic means) without the prior written<br />

permission of <strong>Theater</strong> <strong>Instituut</strong> <strong>Nederland</strong>.<br />

<strong>Theater</strong> <strong>Instituut</strong> <strong>Nederland</strong><br />

<strong>Theater</strong> <strong>Instituut</strong> <strong>Nederland</strong> provides information<br />

and advice to Dutch and foreign theatre<br />

and dance professionals. The activities focus<br />

on promoting Dutch dance and theatre<br />

abroad and providing a programme of artistic<br />

exchange between Dutch and international<br />

companies and theatre professionals.<br />

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© <strong>Theater</strong> <strong>Instituut</strong> <strong>Nederland</strong><br />

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T +31 (0)20 – 5513300<br />

E info@tin.nl<br />

www.tin.nl<br />

108 The Dutch on tour Colophon

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