Watch the pictures

Side A: Split into One

NDT 1
Edward Clug Proof
Medhi Walerski SOON
Sol León & Paul Lightfoot Sisters

The performances in this programme have taken place in season 2017-2018.

Side A: Split into One is an intimate introduction into the 2017-2018 season. It features three world premieres that find the power and beauty in pure movement. NDT treats the audience to choreographical voices all proving that poetry in dance can sheer an endless amount of stories.

Edward Clug will be creating his first piece for NDT 1 (Proof) that will further establish him as a prominent name in the Dutch dance world. Clug debuted with the company with his creation mutual comfort (2015) for NDT 2.

“There lies a gentle grandeur in Walerski’s gestures, that bubble modestly on the surface and bring a slight glare […]” said the Leidsch Dagblad after the premiere of GARDEN, Medhi Walerski’s most recent work for NDT 1. Walerski will create another new work for Side A: Split into One (SOON), with which he will continue his steady creative journey with the company.

The evening will be completed with a new creation of NDT house choreographers Sol León and Paul Lightfoot (Sisters), whose ballets all share the duo’s endless inspiration in exploring human relationships.

Watch the photo’s of Side A: Split into One here.

Programma order

Proof – Edward Clug
SOON – Medhi Walerski
Sisters – Sol León & Paul Lightfoot

Duration: 2 hours and 15 minutes, including 2 intermissions

Performance dates

Season 2017-2018 | September 22 – December 6, 2017
The Hague, Amsterdam, Tilburg, Breda, Rotterdam, Nijmegen, Utrecht, Groningen

In this performance

PROOF – EDWARD CLUG

This dance
This dance
It’s like a weapon
It’s like a weapon
Of self defense
Self defense
Against the present
Against the present
Present tense

– Radiohead, Present Tense from
A Moon Shaped Pool album

 

“To me these words are striking yet peaceful and coincidental… Radiohead is more than just my favorite band; they are the soundtracks to my other side; listening to them feels like I’m finding a self that I haven’t met yet. This is my second experience with Radiohead after Radio and Juliet in 2005. Back then, it was a joint between Shakespeare’s classic and their music. This time it feels more like a joint of past and present experiences, caught in a melancholic yet utopian atmosphere of a few songs from the band’s latest two albums. Sharing my deepest intimacy with the dancers made me become one of them and our dancing thoughts, arriving from different sources gave shape to a new place, for a new piece.” – Edward Clug

[Proof] is yet another work with a clear language and original findings.

NRC Handelsblad
about Proof
SOON – MEDHI WALERSKI

(…)
Tonight I will be forever following the colosseum moon
Into a certain room
(…)

“A few years ago I went to a Benjamin Clementine concert. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to create a piece to his music. The sheer uniqueness of his voice and the raw, profound poetry of his lyrics kindled a spark that I wanted to express through this piece; four songs, four dancers, echoing Clementine’s vision of life.” – Medhi Walerski

Photo: Rahi Rezvani. Choreography: 'SOON' by Medhi Walerski. Dancers: Alice Godfrey, Gregory Lau.

[Walerski] knows like no other how you can move dancers playfully towards the light.

Volkskrant
about SOON
Photo: Rahi Rezvani. Choreography: 'Sisters' by Sol León & Paul Lightfoot. Dancer: Juliette Brunner.
SISTERS – SOL LEON & PAUL LIGHTFOOT

“During the creative process we observe in our work how ideas develop, then shift and alter from what we might have envisaged originally. We love this journey within our choreography, and to discover the freedom of watching what it often transforms into. Therefore, it becomes increasingly difficult, in fact near impossible, to say something about a new ballet which hasn’t been born yet. Often in the creative process what you thought was the truth turns out to be the contrary. We have chosen though to call this work Sisters, drawing inspiration from the metaphor of connections and unconditional love between each other. Despite diverse paths and life stories since childhood, the bonds of a sibling still bind us together.” – Sol León & Paul Lightfoot

The hallucinating effect of Sisters is enchanting from the start.

Leidsch Dagblad
about Sisters

The dancers on 'Side A: Split into One'

Photo: Rahi Rezvani. Dancer: Aram Hasler.
Photo: Rahi Rezvani. Dancer: Gregory Lau.
ARAM HASLER ON SISTERS

“In rehearsals we were told it was essential to be aware of each other,
to listen to every musical cue and to see every physical connection from each dancer, however little those movements might be.

We needed to create a certain atmosphere, one that can only be done whenever everyone works together to establish this almost hypnotic balance. You have to be extremely aware to achieve this and we did just that.

I strongly believe that with kindness and support from your colleagues it somehow opens a creativity flow that can translate into what the choreographers want. In my opinion egos should not have a place in teamwork and with this group of individuals it was quite evident we achieved a beautiful way to go about a creation process.”

GREGORY LAU ON SOON

“I feel like presence has been an important theme of research in the process with Medhi. As a performer it is easy to think about the next step without validating our present moment.

To honor what is presence within our body and how aware we can be to each other. Being such an intimate group there naturally becomes an importance between the connection of each other and how that expands in relation to the space. He really encourages us to be at the constant edge of our own physicality, moments when you are experiencing risk. I am
excited to finally bring this piece to stage and especially get to perform to the wonderful voice of Benjamin Clementine.”

Programme booklet & Music

Programme booklet (NDT 1 | Side A: Split into One)

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