Choreographies of Talent On The Move 2025

Eliana Stragapede (Italy) and Borna Babić (Croatia), both graduates of Codarts Rotterdam, currently work as dancers, choreographers and teachers and live in Brussels. Immediately after their training they worked with Marina Mascarell, Club Guy & Roni and with renowned choreographers and companies.

Eliana worked for Tansmainz in Germany and has been part of the dance theatre company Peeping Tom since 2020. Borna collaborates with Olivier de Sagazen and works with Ultima Vez - Wim Vandekeybus.

Their performance AMAE was awarded 1st place at The Copenhagen International Choreography Competition 2022 for the Choreography and Production Awards by Nederlands Dans Theater and Holstebro Dansekompagni. Furthermore, at Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition 2023, it was awarded Partner Awards by Codarts and Dansateliers.

In 2025, Eliana and Borna will be commissioned to choreograph a new creation for NDT2 as part of the ‘Up and Coming Choreographers’ project. Furthermore, they will also choreograph for the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich, where they will share the evening with other international artists including Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, curators of the event.

AMAE questions and explores the need for dependency in human relationships. The desire to be loved passively, seeking the other's indulgence. The desire to be completely surrounded by and at one with the other, in an attempt to neglect and avoid confrontation with external objective reality. From one perspective this can be seen as a very warm and humane behaviour, being in harmony with others and being able to rely on them. From another perspective, it can look like encouraging pleasure-seeking, dependency and control. How far can this need take us, so that from love we begin to hurt, from concern we become obsessive and from support we end up controlling

CREDITS | AMAE (Fragment)

Concept en choreografie: Eliana Stragapede & Borna Babić 
Dramaturgie: Margherita Scalise 
Compositie: Nenad Kovačić; stem: Teresa Campos 
Originele muziek: Nicholas Britell 
Editing: Giuseppe Santoro 
Kostuums: Nina Lopez-Le Galliard 
Lichtontwerp: Benjamin Verbrugge
Duur: 10:00 min

Cayetano Soto (Spain) works with leading dance companies around the world. His technical, intense and unpredictable choreographies can be seen at international festivals in Europe, the United States and Canada.

Soto began his dance training at the Institut del Teatre in his native Barcelona and continued at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He graduated in 1997 and joined IT Dansa in Barcelona, the city where he still lives.

Since 2005, Soto has been working as a freelance choreographer. He has choreographed for companies such as Nederlands Dans Theater, Royal Ballet Flanders, Zurich Ballet, Introdans, Gauthier Dance Company and Tanz Luzerner Theater. 
He has received several awards for his work, including first prize for 24FPS at the Royal Ballet of Flanders' choreography competition Uncontainable in 2006. Canela Fina, commissioned by Balé da Cidade de São Paulo, was voted 'Best Dance Performance 2008' by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo. 

For his choreography Uneven, Cayetano Soto was nominated in 2011 for the ‘Golden Mask’, the most prestigious dance award in Russia. Especially for the Codarts Dance Company, Soto created Masarykova Ulica in 2023. In additon to his new creation, Sortijas is going to reprise. This makes two works by the Spanish choreographer on this tour. 

CREDITS | Twenty Eight Thousand Waves

Choreografie: Cayetano Soto
Dramaturgie: Dario Suša
Muziek: Bryce Dessner, Aheym (door Kronos Quartet)
Kostuumontwerp: Cayetano Soto
Repetitor: Neel Verdoorn, Keith Derrick Randolph
Duur: 10:00 min

Dalton Jansen (The Netherlands) is a choreographer whose work pushes boundaries and breaks social taboos. His mission is clear: to connect, inspire and create real change in our everyday reality through dance. Dalton's dynamic blend of hip-hop, spoken word and contemporary dance brings together people from diverse backgrounds to create powerful stories.

While studying Urban Contemporary at the Amsterdam School of the Arts, Dalton stood out for his innovative choreography, which won him prizes such as the Audience Award at Het Rotterdams Open Podium (2014), the DOX Award (2022) and the BNG Bank Prize (2021). In 2024, he received the Charlotte Köhler Prize in recognition of his influence and vision.

Dalton's work often stems from his personal experiences or perspective on the world around him. His performances reflect his personal search for identity, freedom, caring and the desire to decolonise outdated norms. He dares to tackle difficult subjects, always with the belief that dance is a tool for change and connection.
 

Supported by the Coproducers Network, Dalton works with leading dance houses such as Theater Rotterdam, Wij Zijn DOX and Maas Theater en Dans, and is active in festivals such as Summer Dance Forever and Julidans. With Stichting BlackBirds he organises the annual BlackBirds Festival, a platform for the new generation and lovers of contemporary dance, with talks, battles and performances that challenge and renew the dance sector.

Dalton Jansen continues to challenge the dance world with his urgent and hopeful vision. He sees dance as a powerful tool for moving together and creating real change.

CREDITS | An unprecedented massacre pt.1

Choreografie: Dalton Jansen
Muziek: Hanna Haïs & KingDonna, Space Fair
Kostuums: Asalia Khadjé
Repetitor: Quentin Roger, Keith Derrick Randolph
Duur: 11:00 min

Credit photo: Amanda Harput, JAH scenefotos

Ed Wubbe (The Netherlands) has created his own genre over the past few decades, fusing dance with other disciplines such as circus and opera. In doing so, he pushes boundaries and creates a theatrical world that is raw, vibrant and contemporary.

Ed Wubbe trained at the Scapino Dance Academy in Amsterdam (1978-1984), after which he danced with the first junior company of the Nederlands Dans Theater. From 1987 to 1990 he was house choreographer for Introdans, and in 1990 he began to choreograph for the Scapino Ballet. Two years later he became artistic director of this company, which moved to Rotterdam in 1994 and continued as Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. Ed Wubbe has created more than seventy dance pieces for Scapino, including TING! (2016). Students from Codarts Circus Arts also collaborated on this jubilee production to mark the company's seventieth anniversary.

In 2017 Ed Wubbe receives the Golden Swan for his great contribution to Dutch dance. He is also appointed Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion. Previously, Single Manoeuvres and Nico were on the programme of the Talent On The Move tour.

After more than 30 years, Ed Wubbe retires as artistic director of Scapino. His impressive artistic achievements, support of young talents and groundbreaking choreographies were recognised with the Dance Pin during the Dutch Dance Days 2024..

CREDITS | ROSARY

Choreografie: Ed Wubbe
Muziek: Franz Schubert, String Quintet in C Major, D 956 - Adagio
Kostuums: Asalia Khadjé
Licht: Maarten van Dorp
Repetitoren: Bryndis Brynjolfsdottir, Keith-Derrick Randolph
Duur: 6:00 min

Credit photo: Bryndis Brynjolfsdottir 

Heidi Vierthaler (Germany-USA) has a 35-year career as a dancer, educator and multidisciplinary maker, and she has a wealth of experience and an influential network across Europe. Her collaborations with pioneering choreographers, including William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Mari Kajiwara and Budo master Akiro Hino, have provided her with a lawless but safe space to explore the boundless possibilities of the dancing body. These experiences form the strong foundation that have propelled her on a fulfilling and inspiring journey.

Using dance as a medium, she communicates through her Somatic Streamflow method, which fosters respectful dialogues with leading contemporary dance companies in the international world, creates pathways for new artistic collaborations, and further nurtures her deep-rooted connections with various dance communities and visual artists worldwide.

“I am constantly trying to communicate something incommunicable, to explain something inexplicable, to tell about something I only feel in my bones and which can only be experienced in those bones." - Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena 

CREDITS | In Those Bones

Choreografie: Heidi Vierthaler in collaboration with the dancers: Mia Boggs, Oliver Lund, Alfredo Napoletano, Agnese Biavati, Imanol Reyero Arias 
Muziek: Henryk Górecki (componist), Beth Gibbons (zang), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Nr: #3, Op. 36, Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs - 3. Lento. Catabile Semplice
Kostuums: Asalia Khadjé
Repetitor: Neel Verdoorn 
Duur: 12:00 min

Jiří Kylián (Czech Republic) is one of the Netherlands leading choreographers. He studied dance in Prague and London. In 1968, he joined Stuttgart Ballett. In 1973, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) invited him as a guest choreographer and he created his first work for this company, for which he has since created more than seventy choreographies. In 1975, Kylián was appointed artistic director of NDT. He resigned this position in 1999, but remained with the company as resident choreographer until 2009. Kylián led a lectureship at Codarts Rotterdam that explored a range of themes related to dance and choreography. In May 2014, the book One Of A Kind was published, reporting on this lectureship in words and images. During his lectureship, Kylián created Stonehenge - with and for dancers from Codarts.

Works by Kylián are regularly on the programme of the Codarts Dance Company and the Codarts Lyceum.

CREDITS | Whereabouts Unknown (fragment)

Choreografie: Jiří Kylián
Muziek: Steve Reich, The Four Sections (1987) Part IV
Kostuums: Joke Visser
Licht: Kees Tjebbes
Instudering: Brigitte Martin
Repetitoren: Brigitte Martin, Sun Hee Dieben
Duur: 10:00 min

Credit photo: Anton Corbijn

Keith-Derrick Randolph (USA) is a choreographer, dance teacher, rehearsal director and coordinator of the Bachelor of Dance programme at Codarts Rotterdam. After studying at the High School of Performing Arts and the Ailey School, Randolph received his diploma in dance education and his master's degree in choreography.

For 15 years he had a successful career in Europe and the United States. He then worked as a dancer and choreographer at the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, where he was a member of the artistic staff. There he created works such as Lament/Lamentationes and the full-length performance Mana at the Theater Zuidplein. 

For Korzo in The Hague he created Romeo and..., the banking room: Sudden & Wintered and the autobiographical Me, Myself, My, I. In 2008 he choreographed the full-length performance Plavo (4 ½) for the Narodnog Pozorište Sarajevo - Ballet.

Since 2009 year he has been coordinator of Dance and for five years artistic director of the Codarts Dance Company and co-founder of the Master Choreography COMMA - a joint degree of Codarts Rotterdam and Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Tilburg.
 

CREDITS |  A Song For You

Choreografie: Keith-Derrick Randolph
Muziek: Donny Hathaway, A Song for You
Lichtontwerp: Marten de Wijs 
Kostuum: Asalia Khadjé
Repetitor: Keith-Derrick Randolph
Duur: 5:30 min

(LA)HORDE is an artist collective, founded in 2013, consisting of Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel. They work with different art forms, including dance, film and video installations, and focus on the body in movement. Since 2019, they have led the CCN Ballet National de Marseille. Their work often deals with current social issues and they work with marginalised groups, such as the elderly and young people. They reject hierarchy and cultural appropriation and focus on cooperation and solidarity. Their work explores the influence of the internet on dance, what they call ‘post-internet dance’.

CREDITS | ROOM WITH A VIEW

Choreografie: (LA)HORDE - Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, Arthur Harel
Muziek: Rone X
Kostuums: Salomé Poloudenny
Licht: Eric Wurtz
Instudering en gastrepetitoren: Vito Giotta, Angel Martinez Hernandez
Codarts repetitoren: Quentin Roger, Keith-Derrick Randolph
Duur: 11:00 min / 33:00 min (long version)

Lea Ved (USA) is an independent choreographer and dance artist based in the Netherlands.  She graduated from The Juilliard School and has danced internationally with Nederlands Dans Theater, The Royal Swedish Ballet, RUBBERBANDance Group and as a guest with Kidd Pivot.

Her choreographic work and research has developed alongside a rich dance career - in reflection, deviation and exploration. Her creations are exploratory and investigative in nature, between the detail of form and a cultivated improvisational practice. 
Her most notable work as a choreographer has been produced by Göteborgsoperans Danskompani, NDT, Korzo Theatre, Poetic Disasters Club, Heavy Hitters Breakdance Crew and CaDance Festival. From January 2025, she will be a choreographer in residence at Korzo Theatre for four years.

CREDITS | Time of the Orchid

Choreografie: Lea Ved 
Muziek: Tim Hecker, Arctic Lover’s Rock Pt. 2; The Work of Art in the Age of Cultural Overproduction; October Pt. 1 
Kostuums: Asalia Khadjé
Repetitor: Quinten Roger
Duur: 12:00 min

Neel Verdoorn (The Netherlands) graduated from Codarts Rotterdam, began her career as a dancer with modern dance companies Reflex and Djazzex and worked with many guest choreographers. Verdoorn is much in demand as a guest teacher and choreographer.

She has created works for Djazzex, Company Budapest Táncszínház, Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel, Aterballeto Italy, Korzo Productions, Ballet Company Pecs, Scapino Ballet and Holland Dance Festival. For International Dance Theatre, she created full-length performances with live music, such as Men of the Tango, Crazy Blues (Dance Audience Award 2015), Silent Songs, Tango/Mania, Hopper and Tin Pan Alley Parade.
In co-production with the Doelen Ensemble and Stichting Neel Verdoorn Dance Projects, she created the performance Ballads.

Verdoorn created work for various dance academies in Europe, including the Zurich Bachelor Contemporary Dance and taZ Zurich. She also works for Codarts as a choreographer, teacher and repetiteur.

Neel Verdoorn creates highly dance-like, dynamic performances. She looks for animal and instinctive movement material with great expressive power. Verdoorn's interest is in the tension between the personal movement language, expressiveness, emotionality of the dancer on the one hand and the abstract and compositional codes of choreography on the other.

CREDITS | Once More 

Choreografie: Neel Verdoorn
Muziek: Melody Gardot, Deep Within The Corners Of My Mind
Kostuums: Asalia Khadjé 
Lichtontwerp: Maarten van Dorp
Repetitoren: Sun Hee Dieben, Neel Verdoorn 
Duur: 6:30 min

Sir Wayne McGregor CBE is a multi-award-winning British choreographer and director, internationally renowned for his pioneering innovations in performance that have radically redefined dance in the modern era. McGregor has directed and choreographed more than 160 works in his 30-year career, including more than 40 works for Company Wayne McGregor, which he founded in 1993, and more than 20 works for The Royal Ballet, where he has been resident choreographer since 2006. His works are in the repertoire of the world's leading dance companies.

In 2021, McGregor was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Prix de Lausanne and he received a honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in 2023. Since 2021, McGregor has been Director of Dance for the prestigious Venice Biennale, and in 2022 he choreographed the revolutionary ABBA Voyage. In 2011, he received a CBE for his achievements for dance and in 2024, His Majesty the King appointed Wayne McGregor a Knight.

Sir Wayne McGregor is artistic director of Studio Wayne McGregor, a registered charity in London that acts as a creative nexus and pushes the boundaries of physical intelligence through dance, technology and collaboration.

CREDITS |  “Studio Wayne McGregor’s FAR (excerpt), performed by Codarts”

Concept, direction and choreography: Wayne McGregor
Original Music: Giacomelli: Sposa son disprezzata , Performed by Cecilia Bartoli
Costume design taken from the original by Moritz Junge
Lighting design taken from the original by Lucy Carter
Staged on Codarts by: Davide di Pretoro

Codarts licht- en theatertechniek: Maarten van Dorp
Codarts kostuumrealisatie: Asalia Khadjé
Codarts repetitor: Sun Hee Dieben
Duur: 6:00 min

Co-produced by sadler’s wells, london, uk and peak performances @ montclair state university, montclair, usa and is made possible in part by a grant from the association of performing arts presenters creative campus innovations grant program, funded by the doris duke charitable foundation.

Co-commissioned by maison de la danse, lyon, fr; fondazione | teatri, reggio emilia, it; belgrade dance festival, belgrade, se; belfast festival, belfast, uk; brighton dome, brighton, uk; laban theatre, london, uk and danceeast, ipswich, uk.

Credit photo: Pål Hansen

Stephen Shropshire (USA), freelance choreographer, graduated from the Juilliard School in New York. He holds a master's degree in arts, culture and heritage from Maastricht University. From 1994 to 1999, Shropshire danced with the American Repertory Ballet. In 1999 he joined Galili Dance in Groningen, for whom he created several dance pieces. In 2005 Shropshire created his first full-length work and in the 2005-2006 season he collaborated with the Icelandic City Theatre and the Icelandic Dance Company on a new production of Carmen.

From 2009 to 2012 Shropshire was artistic director and choreographer of NND (Noord Nederlandse Dans).

He has been commissioned by the Holland Dance Festival to create work for the New Zealand Dance Company. For Codarts he created Falfurious and Lamento Della Ninfa, an adaptation of material from the 2012 performance Cinematic. 
For this TOTM TOUR, the programme includes the previously performed The Golden Pas De Deux.

CREDITS | THE GOLDEN PAS DE DEUX  (the Dowland version)

Choreografie: Stephen Shropshire
Muziek: John Dowland, In darkness let me dwell (soprano: Anne Sofie von Otter)  
Kostuums: Stephen Shropshire
Lichtontwerp: Stephen Shropshire
Repetitoren: Quentin Roger, Keith Derrick Randolph 
Duur: 4:30 min

World première Golden – The Symphony in C Variations: 12 October 2012, Noord Nederlandse Dans, Groningen  
Premiere The Golden Pas De Deux: 2 February 2016, Codarts Rotterdam, Talent On The Move Tour, Delft