The eighteenth Holland Dance Festival opens with a grand, festive premiere program by Nederlands Dans Theater 1, in the new cultural temple of The Hague: Amare. Although Nederlands Dans Theater has performed at all our previous festival editions, this is the first time since 2009 that the company is opening the festival. A result of the immediate 'click' and mutual appreciation that Emily Molnar, artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater since last year, and Holland Dance Festival director Samuel Wuersten felt and the warm ties that our festival has maintained with choreographer Jiří Kylián for years.
Wealth of staccatos
Kylián is one of the three idiosyncratic choreographers that Nederlands Dans Theater 1 brings together in Traces Left Within. His intriguing Toss of a Dice (2005) is being danced by the company for the first time since 2006. The master choreographer was inspired for this dramatic and sometimes oppressive ballet, which contains a wealth of staccatos, by a steel object by the Japanese sculptor Susumu Shingu, whose works of art Kylián describes as 'dancers of eternity'. He also drew inspiration from Stéphane Mallarmé's philosophical poem Un coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard, from which the choreography takes its name. Kylián: “For me, Toss of a Dice symbolizes a sunken ship, something submerged in the waters of our conscious behavior, something that can be found, or maybe not.”
Razor sharp and lightning fast
In addition to Toss of a Dice, Traces Left Within includes world premieres by 'associate choreographer' Marco Goecke and former NDT dancer Marina Mascarell, who is now considered one of the rising stars of European dance. Goecke – whose previous choreography for Nederlands Dans Theater was nominated for the Zwaan for 'Most Impressive Dance Production' – is known for his unique, complex and intense dance language. With his razor-sharp, lightning-fast and nervously fluttering movements, the German choreographer stimulates the nervous system of both his dancers and his audience.
Poetic engagement
The Spanish Marina Mascarell is creating a work for the dancers of Nederlands Dans Theater 1 for the first time. Mascarell's choreographies are characterized by their socio-political commitment and at the same time by their poetic and intimate character. Her approach to movement is based on recognizing patterns in order to overcome them, and she constantly asks questions to find the 'true self'. Mascarell: “I believe that theater should let your imagination fly, which is why, as a maker, I never want to determine a strict frame of reference in advance. However, I always doubt established ways of being, related to the problems that I believe society has. That is what moves me to create.”
