Ever since the first edition of the Holland Dance Festival, in 1987, Nederlands Dans Theater has occupied a prominent place in our festival program. This year, the company - which has been under the inspiring leadership of Emily Molnar since 2020 - is back again, this time with a fascinating program in which, as in our entire festival, an important role has been given to female choreographers. In addition to recent successful works by top choreographers Sharon Eyal (i.c.w. Gai Behar) and Gabriela Carrizo, From Here Now Far includes a world premiere by renowned British theater director Simon McBurney, created in close collaboration with associate NDT choreographer Crystal Pite.
Present and past, fact and fiction
The new work is the second of a triptych that McBurney - artistic director of London theater company Complicité - and Pite are releasing at NDT 1 around the question of what kind of art should be create in the face of climate crises. The first part, Figures in Extinction [1.0], won last year's Swan for Most Impressive Dance Production. While Pite handled the choreography in this first part, McBurney is making his choreographic debut with the second segment of their triptych. In his theatrical staging, McBurney often eschews linear narratives, intertwining storylines from the past and present, as well as facts and fiction. "I'm naturally drawn to something I don't understand because when you try to deal with that, it opens a door to another world," McBurney explained.
A sensual, shuddering spectacle
NDT 1 brings back the widely acclaimed Jakie from May 2023 by the successful duo Sharon Eyal (choreography) and Gai Behar (artistic sounding board and dramaturg) in From Here Now Far. Known for their blistering movement mechanics and pulsating, hypnotic rhythms, Eyal and Behar created a mesmerizing masterpiece set to a groovy techno soundscape by Ori Lichtik. Continuously dribbling on the balls of their feet, the sixteen dancers merge in ever-changing patterns before separating again. As a spectator, you quickly become captivated by this sensual, shuddering spectacle, feeling as if you have landed on another, unknown planet.
Forget the silver screen
In her constant pursuit of crossovers between dance, theater, art, and life, Argentine Gabriela Carrizo, co-founder and artistic director of the Belgian company Peeping Tom, creates powerful cinematic works. In her choreographies, dancers are challenged to fully empathize with the characters they portray while being extraordinarily vulnerable in their expression. In Carrizo's La Ruta, the third work in From Here Now Far, space and time are suspended, allowing the viewer to distill their own story from a wondrous world of images. The result is a surreal, hallucinatory film noir. Or as one journalist wrote, "Forget the silver screen and special effects, because in La Ruta, it's all happening live, right under your nose".
