I Wayan Gde Yudane & ensemble Wrdhi Swaram (Bali) - Cynthia Verpoorten

Traditional dance and music from Bali

The performance was 9 December in the theatre ‘De Singel’ in Antwerp, Belgium.
This was a performance to see another culture, it gave a look to the traditional dance and music from Bali.

The title prefers to a Balinese composer and musician. He comes from Denpasar, but with an international reputation. His work introduces new approaches from the gamalan. Tradition and contemporary are meeting each other. 

Gamelan, instrument

In this piece there were twenty-two musicians and three dancers.  The piece contains three traditional dances. It started with a music part what sounded strong, it gave a whole new energy to the room. The musicians had a strong bond with each other, they were continuously looking around but also focusing on their own instrument.

 Jauk Longor dance

After the intro it was time for the Jauk Longor dance, it’s a classical solo that give the impression to movements from a demon. At the beginning it gave a ‘wow’ feeling, because the costume is so defined, with lot of details and we are not used to the movements. So, you try to understand and take everything what you see. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oXfSKnYk6U

Later came another solo named as Topeng Tua, this is about an old man, and you need a lot of technique skills.  After the first solo you begin to understand the traditional movements and music. It’s interesting to see how the technique is, but it’s also difficult to watch and understand it if you don’t know anything about the dance techniques.

After was a duet ‘Legong Semarandhana’, it tells a story about Semara and Ratih two god’s that represents the sexual love. 

This duet was lovely to watch, it was also the first time that you see the girls dancing instead of the male solo’s from before. The duet was without masks, so the make-up and eyes became important.
This duet gave another point of view to the dance technique and culture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siICiYS5NkQ

On the video you see, the dance they performed but then as a duet.

The piece became strong because you meet another culture. The costumes of the dancers where special and not easy to dance with. They are wearing a lot of layers and that makes it harder. You can see on the pictures as on the video that their dance technique is based on their costume, so they easily deal with their costumes, it’s a big part of their culture.

The music itself was also traditional, if you’re not used to real traditional music from Bali, then is this a nice experience.

"Barbarians " by Hofesh Shechter-Evelyn Hutchings DM1

Barbarians in love

By Hofesh Shechter

8th of July 2016

Sadler's Wells

Rosebery Avenue, London. 

“I’m a 40-year-old man looking for a thrill” . 

This is how   “The barbarians in love” starts .

World premiere on 1 November 2014 at Festspielhaus, St Polten, Austria.

“Barbarians in love“ ,as well as the following pieces “tHE bAD” and “Two completely different angles of the same fucking thing” are part of one of the most successful dance pieces of the Israelian choreographer  Hofesh Shechter, named “Barbarians” . A trilogy inspired by the sense of passion, intimacy and love but also by the freedom to choose and to be your own self .

Revealing his choreography at its most elegant and intimate, the highly acclaimed and perturbing “the barbarians in love" opens the evening with a formation of six dancers performing on the notes of  deafening music composed by François Couperin, with a mixture of electronic sounds from rock drift and baroque melodies.These “barbarians”, following the same line of thoughts  of the author,  stand as a symbol of the relationship between the human being and whatever is unknown and unfamiliar to his eyes. For instance we can all feel barbarians when we are dealing with unexpected and unexplored factors. This is represented by the dancers themselves , who invade and dominate the space in clinical white suits ,forcefully advancing in perfect unison.

From the outset, as a part of the audience, it was easy to perceive the moral meaning behind this picture, that led me into a more introspective  view of  the performance.

Overall it was fascinating to see how Hofesh reverses the canons of reality on stage through movements which recall primitive vocabularies, tribalisms and animalistic sequences . Revisiting those movements  in a contemporary key was an outstanding choice that completely captured the audience.

Nowadays we have been accustomed to regular, precise and well-structured aesthetics, to the “ideal beauty “ that we experience in our daily life and that is around us in works of art.

However all of that is banned and according to Shechter ‘s style of choreography , dancers should act by instinct and simultaneously accept everything their body would like to do with no interpretation or embellishment . 

Nevertheless this  style of movement may appear to be as a chaotic and ruffled sequence of steps , where dancers don’t follow any kind of structure or line .On the other hand it seems that the dancers manage to free their minds and lose themselves  in their natural impulse . This is accomplished by sharing their mood with the audience . In addition it creates a unique dancing body  in harmony with enthralling music which  ,by ignoring conventions, it becomes pure rhythm. 

In summary despite there not being  a global common taste for this work, I would recommend sampling a Shechter's performance yourself! 

Follow the link below for a taste of the barbarians rehearsals before the big tour in the U.K. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAfNuc2pPEw

Credits:

Choreography and music of Hofesh Shechter

Performed by Hofesh Shechter Company

Photographs of Gabriele Zucca

Daughter, Daughter - Before I met you
Joseph Toonga - just dance theatre

7 Oktober 2017

Daughter Daughter, is about a father with two dauthers and how the father is dealing with it. The father is trying to communicate with them but it is not working out the way he wanted it to work out. its having different ups and downs and it is not an happy end.



In this piece they used two different dicliplines, they spoke and danced in the piece. sometimes there are very quick changes between the two. the music was giving an extra layer to the same emotion as the movemnts or voices, in the beginning and in the end they used an recorded voice what was in the music aswell. the style of dance was hiphop and contemporary dance, in some of the movements where a lot of emotions and in others not, also because they had very fast changes in speaking and then suddenly moving.

When i was watching the performance the kept me focused most of the time, it was very in the face they wanted us to see them, its became also stronger because the y almost didn't used decor. instead they had some atributes.. Because the performance was in realy in the face it gave less space to think about the situations differenty then they showed them, also because they switched a lot in speaking and dancing. Joseph Toonga has done a good job in giving the audience his way that he want us to think,

This piece is inspired by real story's from fathers and their daughters, with the dept of responsebility, love, guilt and lack of control.

NachtHexen I

by

Jens van Daele's Burning Bridges

       Girls and girls at the Stadstheater the 9th December 2018. Jens van Daele based this creation on the Russian night bombing regiment Taman during World War II, focusing on the women's roles in it, from pilots to technicians. He also put Jeanne D'arc in the present. Wondering how she would fight in our present time. Jan van Daele in this piece might want to showcase the woman strength putting them in a war field. 

     Impossible to miss the start of the show, the drums bombard the room, flashlights from a luminous neon moved into a jerky way toward the first dancer presenting herself. Staying on the same spot she moves energetically. The four dancers present themselves that way. On stage all are managed by girls (two musicians, four dancers, the comedian and the technician). The stage set is composed of many elements : a big red percistent light dot, drums, a piano, electronic music tools, a woman with electronics stuff is managing the light and perched on a podium the comedian with a microphone is whispering, suffocating, spitting some words in Dutch, french and English. Different languages maybe considering women from different horizons. On the floor some grey shadows, looking like a tree without leaf shadows, linked to this kind of tree present on stage. 

    All along the piece, every single element on stage have a role and moves except the tree staying faithful to itself, planted in the same place being the storm witness without its leaves. The musicians are really involve in the moving mood of the piece and the temperature even sometimes cracking matches in front of a microphone. The comedian performance was really linked with the dancers' energy. Like she was the voice and they were the body expression. The combination of those five women(dancers and comedian) was like the expression of one.

     Now you probably noticed this piece was full of ideas and what I'm writting is a small part. I saw this piece as the course of a fight. Women struggles with themselves or the outside world. In the texte presenting the piece Jan van Dael showcase his will to touch as much as possible the hearts of the audience. But I felt this will too intense and maybe a bit aggressive by this surplus of information. And it could break the audience attention. Some people left the theater during the piece. Still, beautiful image came out of the piece also because the symmetrical beauty of the girls restored this kind of disorder of too many elements.

The piece still ends in a sensitive way, restoring my first reluctant reaction. Showing the softness of those four strong women being cared by the technician helping them to be well placed during their sleep. The hug moment also where the comedian says "merci beaucoup" (thanks so much in french) to everyone hugging them. The piece received finally big applause. To see this piece I really recommend to read the purpose and the context of it to allow yourself to have a softer reception of this creation.

Credits:

Choreography & direction: Jens van Daele

Text: Hanne Struyf
Game & dance: Hanne Struyf , Patricia van Deutekom, Cécile Lassonde
Music: Alexandra Bellon , Viva Sanchez... on piano, cello, percussion and electronics
Music composition: Richard van Kruysdijk
Lighting design: Tom Verheijen

    

    

Accusations- Ann Van den Broek / WArd / waRD, Shynna Kalis

Accusations

Ann Van den Broek / WArd / waRD

##Rumours/ raw/ honest/ confusing/ trance/ personal reflection

Concept & choreografie Ann Van den Broek

Nederlandse Dans Dagen, De Bordenhal            07- 10- 2017

Beautiful, breath-taking, and fluid are not words that seemed to be in place for Ann Van den Broek’s new piece ‘Accusations’. Raw, honest and throat-gripping are the words that came to my mind instead when I experienced the performance at the Nederlandse Dans Dagen in Maastricht. A live- camera mirroring Ann’s personal characteristics and thoughts into the performers, spoken out loud and honest with rock-voices. It all could have been too much.

Bron: kunstmin.nl

A prominent beginning, a square that lights up in front of the stage. Contrast is very present in Ann’s work, and black and white are the colours that dominate the space. Ann Van den Broek herself, walking to the square. Her eyes squint, she looks at us all. This is about me, is what her eyes say. In the dark silence her voice sounds strong: ‘I failed.’

A sum-up of confessions follows, made by the performers who seem to be living in a setting of a catwalk. The confessions express guilt, anger, flashes of memory. One by one the dancers speak into the microphone, but they seem to be telling someone else’s story still in their own body. This could be explained because the whole piece is about Ann. But in what way are the dancers still themselves? This dark work is about her. Is that self-centred?

A strong build-up follows, the movement doesn’t bore at all. There are new things to see. The raw and rhythmic music is getting pumped up slowly, emotions break out more and more through the cold catwalk movement-style. Use of the camera’s facing from on the ground, use of light, use of text brings us deeper into Ann’s seemingly complicated mind. Things get dark when actor Gregory Frateur, starts to sing like a rock-frontman, causing desperate movements by the dancers.

Even though one of the dancers got butt-naked, and the performers finished with walking between the audience, there was still a big emotional distance. A lot of expression, but it was like Ann was saying: ‘don’t you dare to try to help me’. Again, this is a contrast which she uses very consciously in all of her work, but this was sometimes unclear, and contact with the audience wasn’t really present. The piece was quite distant and almost attacking the audience.

The interesting setting was definitely a plus. Forming a catwalk to the ‘confession-square’, Ann herself on the side of the stage. Cold lights, and a big screen at the back of the space. Ann used the live video-material in a clever way. A performer could talk into the microphone in a very arrogant way, but could look away to the camera, frightened. The truth on the screen. These abstract ways of portraying the darkness of an individual human mind are very well-thought out and not cliché at all, even though at some points you can expect this. As for the text, sadly, these clichés do come in some times. It would have been right if the level of self-pity and being an ‘outsider’ would be dominant. If these certain sentences were supposed to serve the piece, I am not completely convinced.

Ann does finish the piece herself, which had to be more than perfect. Her, and her demons say goodnight. Not to you, but to herself.

Concept & choreografie Ann Van den Broek Van & met Ann Van den Broek, Louis Combeaud, Gregory Frateur, An Hackselmans, Frauke Mariën, Nik Rajsek en ook metRiedon van den Berg / Davide Calabrese / Wolf Govaerts / Laila Gozzi

Tekst Ann Van den Broek & Gregory Frateur

Video- & lichtontwerp Bernie van Velzen

Decorontwerp Ann Van den Broek & Bernie van Velzen

Geluid & compositie Nicolas Rombouts

Styling kostuums Veronique Branquinho

Tekst advies Hans Timmerman Advies Marc Vanrunxt

‘Accusations’ is een productie van Ward/waRD (BE/NL)

Curious? Click below for the trailer.

Accusation

akjʊˈzeɪʃ(ə)n

noun

plural noun: accusations

1.     a charge or claim that someone has done something illegal or wrong

Over onze vader, Jens van Daele

Over onze vader, Jens van Daele

Jens van Daele

09-04-2016, Ainsi Maastricht

‘Oh poes, geen ogenblik zou ik nog verder kunnen leven zonder je, ik vertikte het gewoon.’
The darkness of the industrial setting is being broken by the obsessive love letters of Jens’ father.

Dance, theater and live music is the recipe for this piece of van Daele.

This choreography of Jens van Daele is a tribute to his family and his father Benny who passed away. The love

letters are being written out loud by Eva Schram. They give you the feeling of the obsessive love Benny had for

Jens’ mother. This obsessive, but also vulnerable feeling is being amplified by the dancers and musicians. Jens

van Daele, Patricia van Deutekom and Pjotr Nuyts are the dancers. Three completely different characters, who each

have their own way of dancing. A beat-boy, the contemporary dancer and an old vulnerable man. The last person

on stage is the musician Richard van Kruysdijk, who with his instruments supports the choreography perfectly.

The story behind the choreography is about Jens' youth. His father was madly in his mother and wrote very extensive love letters for her. Eventhough he loved her so much, he would also do things terribly wrong. He would stay away from home for days or come home really drunk.This caused a lot of tension among the family. This tension reflected on the spoken text, but also the choreography. The spoken text was projected  on the door of the container. This was not the only thing projected on the container. There were also certain texts of family members. The text was their response to the piece. Most of Jens' family members were very mad at him for making such a personal piece for the audience. 

When I saw the performance everything was quite overwhelming, because as I said it was a very personal but also emotional performance. After the performance finished you could begin to start thinking about the dancing and the music. It was an amazing dance piece with different styles of dance and different body types combined in a perfect way. At one point Patricia and Jens had a duet. Patricia would lift Jens, instead of the stereotype, boys should lift girls. This also gave you a feeling of vulnerability. So, the projected text with the spoken text would give you a strong feeling, but this was also digested in the quality of the movements. 


Overall, I thought this was an amazing choreography with great young and old dancers. The only problem is, is that you could not just sit, watch and relax. You were constantly drawn to all the other arts, going on on stage. You had dancers, actors and a musician, you did not know where to look or luckily, what to expect. After the performance a lot of people even had to cry, because they were emotionally very touched, but also mentally overwhelmed. I personally loved the performance, just because of all the different art forms on stage. I would summarise it as a charming Flemish actrice, with a powerfull dance performance and very strong life music.

By Julia Drittij DM1

Hu(r)mano

 

25^th of March, 2017

Lisbon, Portugal

 

Made by Marco da Silva Ferreira, this piece explores the boundaries and relationships between humans. Using an experimental mix of contemporary dance and urban dance, he embraces the awkwardness and connections between the dancers, relating both to the spectators, as well as themselves.

    © José Caldeira

I went into this piece thinking: “Ohw this is going to be another one of those performances where the choreographer just puts hip-hop dancers on stage and then makes them do, in your face, hip-hop on weird music and mix in a tiny bit of contemporary dance so he can call it Urban Contemporary.” I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the dancers exploring inner relationships, contrasts and society. Using their knowledge of urban dance, they explore these themes, but they are not just dancing hip-hop, they’re utilising the technique, popping and waving becomes more human and more floating and surprising in this piece, instead of always frontal dancing right on the beat without any context around it. This is the kind of Urban Contemporary that we need more off, giving accents to movements because of the intent behind it, not just because it is a nice action.

Throughout the performance you join the dancers in an exploration of society and humanity, how we interact with each other, how we fit in, awkward silences, relationships and common ground. They seem a bit awkward and mysterious at first, but you’ll start to feel compassion with the dancers, finding their way through the crowd. Seeing them evolve more and more into their own character is a nice journey to go on, you can clearly see how they transform from fitting into a group to finding themselves and exploring individuality. And in the end it is all covered up with fake emotions, showing us the  © José Caldeira      

darker side of communities where they’re projecting a false image of themselves because that’s what society expects from them.

All in all this is a piece where the urban dance is set in a more grounded and explorative nature, getting interesting movements to accompany already interesting dancers. All guided by an everlasting Pulse in the music, which also makes you be part of it, from beginning to end.

 

 

© José Caldeira

 

Trailer Hu(r)mano:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh0JLFvKC8k

 

Written by Margarida Constantino