Dates

This show was to be seen in september 2020

Location

Nationale Opera & Ballet, Grote zaal

Running time

1:30

Tickets

na

Woman in latex

Experience today's ballet

To our great regret, we are forced to cancel the performance 29 September due to the advice of the central government regarding the Coronavirus. Read more information here: operaballet.nl/corona-update

Experience today's ballet

With many new creations by young choreographers and work by top choreographers such as Hans van Manen and David Dawson, the opening production of the new season forms a unique collage. Born from limitations but also from new possibilities in today's world, Dancing Apart Together lets you experience the rich and pure simplicity of ballet today. In a theatre that has reopened again after a long time, and at a safe distance!

Safety
We have taken careful measures to ensure a safe visit to our theatre, including careful observation of the compulsory 1.5 metre distance in the auditorium and in the foyer.

black and white photo of dancers

Creative responses to today's world

Dancing Apart Together is the creative response to the situation we find ourselves in at this moment. On the programme are existing works, as well as new creations by choreographers who, each in their own way, give shape to ballet in the Netherlands today.

Distance and proximity
Social distancing has been a way of living for months. Do we still dare to touch each other? The need for closeness and intimacy is perhaps stronger than ever. And how can togetherness take shape when distance is still the safer option? These considerations consitute the thematic starting point for the programme.

Working with what we have
Also in a broader sense, the possibilities in today's world have informed the programme. For Dancing Apart Together, we work with choreographers who are somehow connected to our house, and we do without large sets and newly made costumes, aiming to create something new from what is already there. Just like in our current society. This programme is therefore just as much about new values.

String orchestra and piano
A string orchestra and piano currently currently form the basis for the musical part of the programme. The reduced orchestral strength poses limitations. At the same time, however, it provides a focus in musical choices and offers opportunities for new, creative impulses.

black and white photo of dancers

The Programme

From established names to young creators, from modern classics to brand-new new worksOn the programme of Dancing Apart Together are:

Ted Brandsen - Romanian Folk Dances, Kaddish, Frolicsome Finale and Slot

Ted Brandsen, choreographer and director of the Dutch National Ballet, responds creatively to today's world with four new short choreographies, Romanian Folk DancesKaddish, Frolicsome Finale and Slot. These works serve to link together the other choreographies, forging Dancing Apart Together into an inspiring whole.

Juanjo Arqués - Solos from MANOEUVRE 
Spanish choreographer Juanjo Arqués, Young Creative Associate with Dutch National Ballet, presens a preview from his work MANOEUVRE, which will have its full world premiere later as part of our Back to Ballet programme. Arqués sets the work to Shaker Loops by John Adams (winner of the Erasmus Prize 2019), in which the movements of waves have been transformed into sound. MANOEUVRE is an exploration of male sensitivity.

Sedrig Verwoert - L’Autre Côté 
Dancer and choroeographer Sedrig Verwoert creates with L’Autre Côté a new work for this performance. He has created several works in recent years, including Oyster (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Amsterdam), The Ritual (Ballet Academy Amsterdam), They/Them and N**** Swan (the latter two in collaboration with Christian Yav). For They/Them he was awarded the BNG Bank Dance Prize 2019. In the same year, he received the Leo Spreksel Award and he was artist-in-residence with contemporary arts centre De Appel in Amsterdam. His work The hard rocks will seem soft to us was presented in the Dutch National Ballet’s programme Dancing Diversity 2019. Sedrig also recently contributed to Beyoncé's visual album Black is King.

Milena Sidorova - Reset
As a dancer with the Dutch National Ballet, Milena Sidorova has already created her own distinct work for New Moves and the Junior Company. During the corona crisis, she also created a digital ballet to music by Dutch band Di-rect. For Dancing Apart Together she has been creating a new choreography: Reset.

David Dawson - On The Nature of Daylight
Also on the programme is On the Nature of Daylight by our Associate Artist David Dawson. In this creation from 2007, Dawson explores true love. It is something we all search for. Yet, how are we to find our ideal partner? By chance or by choice? And what happens if we simply fail to meet up with the right person? A piece about the perfectly ordinary yet extraordinary mystery of love, choreographed to music by Max Richter that is balm to the soul.

Ernst Meisner - Largo
Artistic coordinator of the Junior Company, Ernst Meisner, creates Largo for the young talents of this group. In this strange time where so much is not possible, a new generation of young dancers is eager to develop themselves further. They are (just like everyone else) put on hold for a while, but they are ready to show themselves.

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa - Quasicrystal
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, choreographer of Last Resistance and Frida at Dutch National Ballet, creates a new work for 8 dancers, Quasicrystal to music by Henryk Gorecki. The theme for her new creation is the longing for contact, and the anger and resistance we face when we lack it.

Hans van Manen - Solo
"To make compromises is part of the artistic process," says famous Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen. He often consciously imposed restrictions on himself in the creative process in order to achieve greater expression. On the programme is his acclaimed Solo to Bach's 'Partita for Violin': a 'solo' for three consecutive dancers, since, as Van Manen stated at the time, Bach's Violin Partita cannot be performed by just one person because of its murderous tempo. Immediately after the premiere, the ballet was labelled 'a masterpiece in six minutes'. 

hans van manen solo

Dancing apart together trailer

thumbnail dancing apart together

DANCING APART TOGETHER - RESET - MILENA SIDOROVA

While Fung lets the two violins converse with orchestra, in her new choreography Reset, Sidorova creates a playful 'conversation' between couples and group. She enriches her strong intuition for aligning high legs with a twist in hand and arm gestures. She also plays with an asymmetry in balance, which continues funny in the sporty suits.

22 September

DANCING APART TOGETHER - L'AUTRE CÔTÉ - SEDRIG VERWOERT

Where do you stand in a world suffering from a pandemic and struggling with inequality? In the midst of the evening red, ten dancers are looking for a new sense of community. Gender roles evaporate, positions are claimed with a fist in the air. Perhaps too plastic, but a new, relevant voice in the ballet.

22 September

DANCING APART TOGETHER

David Dawsons ongegeneerd romantische duet On The Nature of Daylight (2007), gezet op het gelijknamige sfeerstuk van Max Richter, wordt gepassioneerd gedanst door Anna Tsygankova en Constantine Allen. Uitgesproken virtuoos is de uitvoering door Remi Wörtmeyer, Edo Wijnen en vooral Young Gyu Choi van Hans van Manens over drie dansers verdeelde Bach-choreografie Solo (1997).

22 September

HANS VAN MANEN - ODE AAN DE MEESTER

Van Manen's work has such clear, legible patterns, such a sexy, tough look and such a fresh, adventurous presentation, that it has no chance of being mature.

30 June

DANCING APART TOGETHER - L’AUTRE CÔTÉ

Wie echter zonder toelichting opvalt is de Surinaams-Nederlandse nieuwkomer Sedrig Verwoert, afgestudeerd in hedendaagse urban dans en vorig jaar winnaar van de BNG Bank Dansprijs voor een zwarte paringsdans over onderhuids racisme, giftige mannelijkheid en queerfobie. Hij brengt in L’autre côté (de andere kant) een vleug mee vanuit vogue, house en clubdans.

22 September

JUANJO ARQUÉS - HOMO LUDENS

Homo ludens van Juanjo Arqués draait om de noodzaak van in beweging blijven, het uitproberen. Pas dan kom je tot creatie, vernieuwing. De choreografieeën, blijvertjes of niet, tonen het fantastische niveau van de dansers.

30 June

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

Onwezenlijk en ontroerend mooi in vertraagde beweging en van een bewegingskwaliteit waar je je adem bij inhoudt.

27 January