Each year, the dancers of NDT 1 and NDT 2 organize a unique programme: Switch. An evening composed entirely by the dancers themselves, of which all proceeds will go to a charity of their choice. The 2025 edition will take place on January 18.
View the NDT 2 programme Lucid Variations as video on demand in Digital Theatre.
Now here, Now always, a triple bill evoking a virtuosity of expression from the dancers of NDT 2, features work by long-time NDT-collaborators Marco Goecke and Alexander Ekman, and a new voice to the company Andrew Skeels.
Programme duration: app. 2 hours 20 min.
The Big Crying might be Marco Goecke’s most personal work that begun in the Autumn 2020, shortly after the death of the choreographer’s father. “It is a piece about parting and about everything we have to burn”, says Goecke. The Big Crying’s movement language is angular, drumming and explosive in an overwhelming crossfire to the songs by Tori Amos; nervous, trembling arm movements like fluttering butterfly wings capture the unfathomable emotion of mourning. Due to COVID restrictions the work has not been toured or performed live in the Netherlands and was primarily seen digitally when it premiered in March of 2021. NDT is excited to revisit The Big Crying this season and give larger audiences the opportunity to experience this compelling work in person.
With this program, we are delighted to introduce a new face to NDT, Andrew Skeels. Inspired by Johannes Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody and Winter Journey in the Harz by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Brocken Spectre, with an original composition by Julien Tarride, is an intimate reflection on grief, transcendence, and the paradox of the human experience.
When choreographer Alexander Ekman made Cacti in 2010, it was important for him that the work offered both a great amount of humor, as well as a critical note. With Cacti (2010) Ekman amusingly challenges the audience to reflect on modern dance as a higher art form and offers a comment on the experience of what can be labelled as ‘high art’. Sixteen dancers stand trapped on oversized scrabble tiles, as they run, fall, writhe, and try to escape their invisible prisons, only to eventually each acquire a cactus. What does it all mean? Cacti is a gleeful parody of art’s greater excesses. A string quartet situated on stage performs music by Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert, while the dancers become the instruments of the quartet, resulting in a rhythmical ensemble. In 2010 Cacti was nominated for a Zwaan Award for ‘most impressive dance production’.
Take a look behind the scenes, in the studio at how the dancers are preparing for The Big Crying. It’s an intense and powerful piece bij Marco Goecke that looks at loss and parting, yet at the same times celebrates the joy of life and the urge to feel alive.
Have a look at how the dancers are preparing for Cacti by Alexander Ekman. How are they finding the balance between humour and art?
For Brocken Spectre the dancers were asked to look deep within themselves and find those true, often hidden and ignored emotions. Take a look at the rehearsals.
This programme will be accompanied live by musicians of the Dutch Ballet Orchestra.
Season 2022-2023 | October 27 until December 20, 2022
Amare, Den Haag
October 27, 28, 29
December 15, 16, 17
Stadsschouwburg Nijmegen & Concertgebouw De Vereeniging
November 2
Schouwburg Concertzaal Tilburg
November 9
Schouwburg Amstelveen
November 13
Theater aan het Vrijthof, Maastricht
November 15
Theater de Maaspoort, Venlo
November 16
Musis & Stadstheater Arnhem
November 19
Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
November 21
Wilminktheater, Enschede
November 24
Flint, Amersfoort
November 27
Parktheater Eindhoven
November 29
Stadsschouwburg & Philharmonie Haarlem
December 2
Chassé Theater, Breda
December 4
Internationaal Theater Amsterdam
December 7, 8, 9
SPOT Groningen
December 13
Theater Rotterdam
December 20
Andrew Skeels (United States) is a former dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and is the artistic director of Skeels Dance Montréal, his own company, since 2015. He has created work for Cirque du Soleil, Ballet of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and TanzTheater International Festival Hannover, among others. Skeels will make his debut with the company this season, creating for NDT 2.
In 2013 Marco Goecke (Germany) joined NDT as an associate choreographer. For the company he created many choreographies in this period. His Midnight Raga (2017) earned him the Zwaan for ‘most impressive dance production’. As of season 2019-2020 Goecke leads the ballet direction at State Opera Hannover.
Alexander Ekman (Sweden) began his career as a choreographer when he was still dancing with NDT 2. Before that he danced with the Royal Swedish Ballet and the Cullberg Ballet. For NDT, Ekman created Cacti (2010), Left Right Left Right (2012), Maybe Two (2013), Definitely Two (2013) and FIT (2018), among others. Ekman is an acclaimed choreographer worldwide and created for many other companies, such as the Göteberg Ballet and the Ballet de l’Ópera de Paris.
NDT organizes introduction talks prior to the performances of NDT 1 and NDT 2 in the Netherlands. The introduction talk takes 30 minutes and offers the opportunity the audience to meet our company on a personal level before the performance starts. Modern dance and the repertoire of NDT in particular are the focus of our introduction talks.
You can read more information in the information e-mail you receive the day before your visit to Amare, or via the website of the theater in question where you are visiting the NDT performance.
Did you know that coupled with this performance, you can attend either a workshop or a six-week intensive? We started a new dance project for children between 8 and 14 years old: NDT Young Creatives. Dance experience is not required, but you do need enthousiasm to create and perform!
Look at more photo’s in the gallery
