16-03-2014 Arnhem Theater Musis Sacrum Schouwburg/ Kleine zaal

SPRING TIDE

Choreographer: Jens Van Daele

Assistance: Clare Dowling

Costums: Mirte Engelhard

Dramaturgical advice: Dorine Cremers

DANCERS

Yeli Beurskens, Patricia Deutekom, Wojciech Grudzinski, Denise Klevering, Jouke Rouwhorst, Felipe Salazar

REALIZATION AND LIVE MUSIC

Ensemble Batida

One of the most interesting piece I’ve never seen and fascinated me the most is "SPRING TIDE" by Jens Van Daele. Spring tide is a piece that combines dance and theatre with live music of love and hate. The story is about a game of attraction and repulsion between the positive thoughts of men and the dark fantasies of women.

It’s accompanied by two percussionists, two pianists, and a typewriter; suddenly voices whisper texts in French. Spring tide shows many duets that are constantly repeated throughout the piece. The language of movement that the choreographer has created with dancers is fast, robust and complete, he uses a lot of resistance.

The dancers performed the piece with  ​​loose hair that was waving menacingly around without making any noise. What fascinated me the most was the strong dynamic of the movements and the eccentricity of the choreography.  This different, intense, poetic, and energetic piece combined with the strong live music and the lights created an extraordinary atmosphere which made me feel in another world, I was awake all the time waiting for the next step. 

The build up was amazing, the tension shocking, the dancers performed the piece exceptionally.

The one I appreciated was Patricia Deutekom and I suppose she could have been the main character of the piece, considering her strong physicality, the clarity of her movements. I liked the way she approached the audience, performing the piece.

The interesting thing is that a few months ago I had the opportunity to do a workshop at school with Patricia and Denise in which we did a small piece picked up from “SPRING TIDE”. We worked in pairs to create a small duet in which one of us was the “active” person and the other one the “passive” person.

I enjoyed the experience of partnering, the new style and the dynamic of the movements because it was something completely new for me.

I hope that one day, I’ll have the opportunity to join Jens Van Daele projects and to become part of this rising company.

VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTqdNBgVxZk

Gilda Federica Cesario DM1

Introdans Compagny: The Green Table

Introdans: 'The Green Table'
Part of the 'Oorlog en Vrede' performance.

September the 22^nd 20:15, the curtains are opening and I am about to check out the new Introdans performance ‘Oorlog en Vrede’. I am sitting frontrow at the Schouwburg in Arnhem, so I can easily see all the fast feet work that is about to be unleashed upon me. But I was not there for the first act. I came to see one of world’s most infamous modern dance pieces named ‘The Green Table’, which is being performed by Introdans tonight.

‘The Green Table’ is often being defined as a monument of modern dance history. The piece was created by Kurt Jooss in December 1931, in 1932 he won the International Competition of Choreography in Paris with this piece. The piece opens with, what appears to be, diplomats or politics (The gentlemen in Black) who are having a discussion around a table covered with a green cloth. The discussion heads up and they pull their guns out, this symbolizes the declaration of war. The following scenes are showing us the horrors that war causes, these scenes have names. The Farewells (loved ones getting separated), The Battle and The Partisan (war itself), The Refugees, The Brothel (the emptiness) and The Aftermath (heartbroken and wounded survivors). It ends with the ‘Gentlemen in Black’ still discussing politics like nothing had happened before. Noticeable is ‘Death’ throughout the scenes, he is portrayed as a skeleton who moves very staccato and robot like and claims his victims of the war. With the ending being the beginning Jooss shows us that he has no faith in the negotiations of the diplomats and comments on the war/politics as being meaningless, useless and causing much horror in society.

Back to September the 22^nd, the curtains are opening and the second halve of the night is about to start. It begins with this typical tango music which really gets stuck in your head and of course the ‘Gentlemen in Black’ are onstage having their argument. But directly noticeable for me were the politic aspects in the piece, as I described above. As silly and harmless the discussion of the men around the green table looked like, as sad, rude and hard the next scenes were. The use of pantomime during the ‘Gentlemen in Black’ scenes made the argument seem really silly, light and harmless. But the use of expressionistic Austrucktanz in the six scenes between the beginning and the end made it really clear what horror the war causes. As already have been said before, the robot-like movement of the person who appears to be ‘Death’ was very fitting to the character, because the movements made him as inhuman as ‘Death’ is.

This piece was made in 1931, the time of expressionism, social realism and the interbellum. Kurt Jooss combined all these factors in this work of art and that’s why it’s a monument in modern dance history. His work was very socially engaged, which is recognizable in the thematic, and the movements were very affected by expressionism, which comes from the heart and shows emotion. Through these movements he could easily show the pain that the war is/was causing. Even the use of a playful tango music was well over thought because it negates the seriousness of the discussion of the diplomats, Kurt Jooss points out the corruption in politcs. 

The dancers did their bowings, the curtains closed and I had an amazing night. If you are interested in more than just a dance piece without any social engagement in it, I can really recommend you to check out this piece. Introdans is doing a great job performing it and the dancing is as powerful as the theme is. This piece made me over think the concept of war again and I realized that it is indeed unnecessarily, full with corruption and only causing more harm than good. This piece is so socially engaged that I really had the feeling that I was getting sucked into it and understood clearly the commentary of the creator.  
I can truly understand why people call this a monument of modern dance!

Reviewed by Wouter Vertogen

Mouvements by Compagnie Marie Chouinard

 

Date: 27 november 2013
Place: the Schouwburg Arnhem
Choreography and Artistic Direction: Marie Chouinard
Lighting, Set Design: Marie Chouinar
Music: Louis Dufort
Sound environment: Edward Freedman
Costumes: Marie Chouinard 

 

Marie Chouinard (born on 14 May 1955) is a Canadian dancer, choreographer, and dance company director. She has created more than 50 solo and group works. Chouinard founded her own company in 1990, the COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD. This choreography ''Mouvements'' is also danced by this company.

Marie Chouinard discovered in 1980 the book Mouvements by Henri Michaux. This book contains 64 pages of India-ink drawings and a poem contains of 15-pages. Marie Chounaird took the pleasure in reading very literally. She read it from left to right, page by page as a choreographic score.
She decrypt the great artist’s drawings and set dance to these "movements of multiple inkjets''.

The transition from the book into dance has been done “ word for word ”, even the poem and the afterword  are included in the choreography. The dancers translated one by one a series of these drawings, switching off periodically like a really team. The drawings were projected on the background with a big beamer so it was really clear to see for the public.

The dancers were dressed all in black and danced on a white floor. That reminds me of the black ink on a white page. The girls did the performance  with loose hair that was one thing I didn’t understand, that interfere the clarity of the movement. I think it was better to took the hair up to make it at clearest as it could be.

Personally I really liked the performance, but I could imagine that for some people the performance could have been too clear, boring at one point. I don't had that feeling at all. The whole choreography was about dancing the projecting , it was every time surprising for me. The dancers were good but not at a really high level. I’ve seen better dancers but these dancers had really their own personality and that was beautiful to see. It was also very physical that makes it nice to watch. 

I really enjoyed this performance. It was very nice and really literally, putting drawing into movement by literally transfiguring it from the page to the body, one after another, again and again, slowly adding more dancers and more variation until a final distilled and transcendent change from black to white and white to black. But for me it never became bored, I was constantly curious and that really works for me.

 

By Nadia Peeters

 

OOOOOOOO Guilio D'Anna

Concept, direction and choreography: Giulio D’Anna

Co-created and performed by: Francesco Barba, Mees Borgman, Lana Coporda, Tiana Hemlock-Yensen, Anastasiia Liubchenko, Pavlos Marios Ktoridis, Maciej Sado and Isadora Tomasi.

Location : Melkweg, Amsterdam

Date : 3^rd of November 2013

We all have in our memory a failed relationship, something that did not work out. Love with family, friends, lovers. We sometimes share those thoughts, express our regrets or fears to somebody else. And we often realize that we are not alone, other persons have lived similar experiences. How do we love, how different it is in every relation ship ?

In his last piece OOOOOOOO, Guilio D'Anna succeded in creating a sort of Museum of Broken Relationships (Zagreb) on stage. He challenges the limits of what is comfortable and what is private, exposes the desire to share personal experiences or memories and creates the atmosphere of a certain ritual which the audience can be part of. Nominated for the Nederlandse Dansdagen Maastricht 2013, and winner of the “Anticorpi XL Collaboration”, it has been shown in Italy (Milan, Teramo) and the Netherlands (Utrecht, Rotterdam, Amsterdam) during the year of 2013.

One piano on stage. As they enter one by one the space, we get to know who the eight performers are. What they like, what they fear. Standing close to the black and white intrument, they sing a song explaining how many are single, in love, straight, their age, nationalities, etc.

The lyrics are transformed in text, appearing in the back. “Seven of us have problems with the way they look”. “Six of us want to get married”. “Huit think abortion is a fundamental human right”. Sentences on a screem, the performers are going forward or backward in response. It allows the audience to understand what they carry with them. Still, there is a rythm, a melody, created by themselves by humming.

Some are more singers, some more dancers, some still students in SNDO, ArtEZ, or the Mime school in Amsterdam. Guilio D'Anna played with such an interesting variety of performers and choreographed a sort of modern music-hall, reflecting on the youth of our society.

All in underwear, talking or moving about their bad love experiences, the performers expose their vulnerability in many different artistic ways but always in a very honest performativity. The physicality they use can be very intense and controled, but not a perfect execution of technical steps, more a research of translating situtations into movements.

The piece has stayed in my mind and even in my body for some weeks. I believe it is so truthfull that it really can talk to anybody. It is about a concrete fact. Love in our society nowadays. Slapping their own bodies in rythm with an amazing natural energy, seeing their skin becoming red, singing loudly “I don't mind the pain!!” over and over, smilling to eachother, … everything was very full of life. I felt the joy of sharing and the hope of youth. It rises many questions and memories about our own personal story.

I will advice this performance to life lovers.

Do I love to love ?

Do I live for love ?

Do I feel love ?

I will advice OOOOOOOO to an audience who like to get close to what happens on stage, to have the feeling of sharing a precious, intimate moment. When I left the theater this day, I felt those butterflies in my belly, those which make you feel happy, or in love.

Check and enjoy the trailer of OOOOOOOO and the website of Guilio D'anna to get to know his work better !! 

http://www.giuliodanna.com/giuliodanna/Giulio_DAnna.html

Written by Léa Vinette 

"Mouvements" - from A to Better

Data

Date of visit: Wednesday 27^th November 2013

Title: Henri Michaux: "mouvements"

Choreography and Artistic Direction: Marie Chouinard

Duration: 35 minutes

Lighting, Set Design: Marie Chouinard

Original music: Louis Dufort

Sound environment: Edward Freedman

Costumes: Marie Chouinard and Marilène Bastien

Hairstyle: Marie Chouinard

Projected text & drawings: Henri Michaux, from the book "Mouvements" (1951), with the permission of the right-holders Henri Michaux and Editions Gallimard 

A piece of art about a piece of art

For this piece the book “Mouvements” by Henri Michaux inspired Marie Chouinard. This book contains 64 pages of India-ink drawing and a 15 page long poem. She ‘literally’ translated the book into a dance score. Page by page she shows a choreography representing the drawings in the book. This means in the middle of the performance there is a interpretation of the poem as well, since she goes through the book chronological. The build up is great; the tension equally rises and lifts you up. Sometimes the potrayal of the drawings are a still body position; sometimes it is a repetitive motion – until the next drawing appears. At the end of the performance you will have a complete overview of all the drawings in the book, because you can see them at the small strips left and right of the big pages.

All the different ingredients in this piece make it all together a pleasure to watch. The minimalistic setting works well. The black cat suits give a very clean view of the dancers body. What I find noticeable is that most of the dancers are very thin, or at least proportioned in a way to make them look slim. This works well with the drawings they are portraying. The silhouettes translate well into pencil strokes. This creates clear lines and shapes; it matches the rectilinear aspect of the drawings.

Something I find fascinating about Michaux’ his work because the title of the book insinuates motion, but of course the drawing are mere still images. I can see how Chouinard took translating still images with human bodies as a challenge. Besides the simple fact that you can clearly tell all movement is inspired by the book, Chouinard added more elements to it. The choice of music sets a more specifik mood. To me it sounds like an industrial soundscape. The combination of noises, deep bass and guitar all together make it sound rather mechanical to me. In its importunate speed it makes me feel rushed and restless. This helps convey that these drawings are actually moving, instead of being plain motionless. Besides the music she also added a theatrical element. At times the dancers would make exaggerated facial expressions. For example they would frown their eyebrows and open their mouths wide open, as if screaming at the top of their lungs. Nothing in Michaux’ images set a specifik atmosphere, it is open to interpretation. So the elements added by Chouinard really added something that in my opinion worked really well. To me the images came alive. Somehow this performance managed to grab my attention completely and it did not let go until the end of the book. I felt really energized by this piece and I think I would have enjoyed it very much to dance it. That does not happen very often either, that I wish I was on stage instead of in the audience. I am looking forward to see more work of Marie Chouinard! So surely I can recommend to everyone going to this performance if you have the chance.

Official website for more info

Review by Tomas Milan

''Ghost Track'' by LeineRoebana

‘’Ghost Track’’ LeineRoebana

Data 21-11-2013

Schouwburg Arnhem

If you’ve never been to Indonisia, but you do want to se a bit of the culture, this is a great performance to watch. You can see the traditional dancestyle, with a mix of modern.

But not only the performances of the dancers, also the music of Iwan Gunawan will take you to another place.

Before I went to the performance I had no clue what to expect. I only knew that it had something to do with the Indonesian culture.

Normally when you enter a theater you have to wait until the doors are open. But here it was different. The doors where already open, and the dancers where already on stage preparing. The first thing I noticed was the fact that the stage was very open. Even though there was some kind of décor props, and the place where the music was settled, it all looked open, and way bigger then normally.

The first part of the performance was for me very exciting to watch. I have seen traditional Indonesian dance before, because it’s from my own culture. But I have never seen this. It was amazing to see how ‘’the real’’ Indonesian dancers where dancing compared to the company dancers, who had before they started this adventure zero experience in this type of dance. You could clearly see it took the modern dancers more energy to dance the traditional dance.

Though in the second part of the performance you could see it less. The modern trained dancers where more comfortable to move around, and to make it more theirs. There was one girl in particular I loved during the performance. Even though the traditional dance was clearly not her base, because she was not a Indonesian looking girl, she took every movement as if she was dancing it her whole life. And in the second part she shows more of her modern side too, so she stood really out for me.

In the end I think this was a great performance for everyone, with or without knowing the Indonesian culture. Although I think you can go home after the performance with a mixed feeling if you liked it or not, you can clearly say you had experienced something you probably would never see anywhere else.

By Yvonne Rugebregt