From January 12 to 15, 2023, Amare and Holland Dance Festival presented, in collaboration with Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables and Sadler’s Wells, the iconic program The Rite of Spring in Pina Bausch’s famous choreography and the moving duet common ground[s], created and danced by Germaine Acogny and Malou Airaudo. After London, Paris and Canada, the sensational performance could be exclusively watched in The Hague.

On the earth-covered stage, a wild and poetic battle raged between the male and female dancers of École des Sables. Who will be sacrificed to propitiate spring and makes new life possible? The result is the moving choreography of The Rite of Spring set to the rousing music of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.

The evening opened with common ground[s], a meeting between Germaine Acogny, first lady of contemporary African dance and founder of the École des Sables, and Malou Airaudo, an icon of the first hour of Tanztheater Wuppertal. The sensitive and moving duet shows the fate of the two women and two dance traditions intertwined, reflecting their connection and rich respective histories.

Audiences in Canada, London and Paris were earlier in the opportunity to enjoy The Rite of Spring / common ground[s] and managed to get the show to win over the international press. Both The Guardian, and The Times handed out four stars. In The Hague the special performance also generated excellent reviews and captivating headlines.

Read here the review of NRC:
Afrikaanse uitvoering maakt van Bausch”The Rite of Spring’ weergaloze uitbarsting van energie

Read here the article of het Parool:
Directeur Holland Dance Festival: ‘Deze door Afrikaanse dansers uitgevoerde productie is een mijlpaal’

Read here the review of Trouw:
Lyrische golfbewegingen en vuistslagen wisselen elkaar af in volledig zwarte Sacre.

Read here the article of de Volkskrant:
Wie wordt de ‘uitverkoren’ om zich dood te dansen? Nieuw leven voor Pina Bausch’ befaamde versie van ‘Le sacre du printemps’.