Creating, but also promoting research and innovation, and detecting and helping new dance talent to develop, are the goals of one of Europe’s leading dance companies, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) directed by Canada’s Emily Molnar and offering choreographies created and performed by some of the most outstanding figures on the global dance scene. Entitled The Poetic Body, the 2021-2022 season includes half a dozen programmes featuring the three choreographies for this occasion: the recent premiere of How to cope with a sunset when the horizon has been dismantled, by the Dutch-Valencian dancer and choreographer Marina Mascarell; the choreography Bedroom Folk, by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, and William Forsythe’s creation One Flat Thing, reproduced. These productions will enable us to see the work of three generations of creators, all in the same programme.
The piece by Marina Mascarell, a former member of NDT, is the Valencian artist's first creation with NDT 1, the first of two companies that make up Nederlands Dans Theater. How to cope with a sunset when the horizon has been dismantled is a piece which questions social topics and seeks alternatives to pre-determined patterns of movement, two common elements in Mascarell’s work. The choreography is based on four pieces of music created between the mid-19th century and the end of the 20th century, bringing sounds and bodies into collision as a way of subverting our relationship with truths from the past.
Mascarell’s choreography is accompanied by a piece from Israeli creator Sharon Eyal, seen at the Grec 2019 with the Ballet BC Vancouver. Eyal created the piece for NDT with her creative partner, Gai Behar. Bedroom folk features electronic music by Ori Lichtik and on this occasion involves eighteen artists in a particularly energetic creation which includes solos and group moments. Finally, the programme features William Forsythe’s One flat thing, reproduced, regarded as an iconic choreography by a creator who has strongly influenced dance in recent decades, with a complexity of movement that truly puts the performers’ skills to the test.
A production by Nederlands Dans Theater.
How to cope with a sunset when the horizon has been dismantled
World premiere: Amare The Hague on 3 February 2022, Approximate duration: 25min, Choreography and direction: Marina Mascarell, Assistant director: Nina Botkay, Choreography and performance by: Jon Bond, Donnie Duncan Jr., Boston Gallacher, Nicole Ishimaru, Lea Ved, Tess Voelker, Dramaturge: Riikka Laakso, Music: Das Rheingold, by Richard Wagner, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic & Sir Georg Solti; Eight Whiskus (version for violin), by John Cage, performed by Irvine Arditti; Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet: III. Allegro grazioso, by György Ligeti, performed by Albert Schweitzer Quintet; 2 Pieces from Kuolema, Op.44: No. 1, Valse Triste, by Jean Sibelius, performed by the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, Musical advisor: Jan Pieter Koch, Lighting: Leticia Skrycky, Decor: Ludmila Rodrigues, Costumes: Nina Botkay, NDT assistant: Lucas Crandall.
Bedroom Folk
World premiere: Lucent Danstheater The Hague on 16 April 2015, Approximate duration: 27 min, Choreography: Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Staged by: Leo Lerus, Rebecca Hytting, NDT assistant: Tamako Akiyama, Performance: Jon Bond, Thalia Crymble, Scott Fowler, Charlie Skuy, Boston Gallacher, Aram Hasler, Madoka Kariya, Nicole Ward, Original music: Ori Lichtik, Lighting and decor: Thierry Dreyfus, Costumes: Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, Doug Letheren, Rebecca Hytting, Thierry Dreyfus.
One Flat Thing, reproduced
World premiere: February 2, 2000, Ballet Frankfurt, Bockenheimer Depot, Frankfurt, Germany, Approximate duration: 15 mins, Choreography, stage and light design: William Forsythe, Staged by: Ayman Harper, Ander Zabala, Cyril Baldy, Amancio González, NDT assistant: Emily Molnar, Performance: Chloé Albaret, Jon Bond, Thalia Crymble, Scott Fowler, Donnie Duncan Jr., Surimu Fukushi, Aram Hasler, Chuck Jones, Madoka Kariya, Lea Ved, Tess Voelker, Nicole Ward, Charlie Skuy, Music: Thom Willems, Costumes: Stephen Galloway.
Photography: Rahi Rezvani
