Programme

GöteborgsOperans Danskompani

GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, led by Artistic Director Katrín Hall, is one of Europe’s foremost contemporary dance companies. Each of its 38 dancers, from over 20 countries, contribute their unique artistry. Together, they form a creative and dynamic ensemble that attracts the world’s leading choreographers to Gothenburg to create new, revolutionary works. 

Skid

Choreografie: Damien Jalet
Assistent choreograaf: Aimilios Arapoglou
Muziek: Christian Fennesz
Aanvullende muziek: Marihiko Hara
Dekorontwerp: Jim Hodges and Carlos Marques da Cruz
Kostuumontwerp: Jean-Paul Lespagnard
Lichtontwerp: Design Joakim Brink
Gecreëerd i.s.m. de dansers from GöteborgsOperans Danskompani

World premiere 7 November 2017, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani

Break 40 minutes because of decor changes

Wild Poetry

Choreografie, componist: Hofesh Shechter
Kostuum ontwerp: Osnat Kelner Kedem
Lichtontwerp: Tom Visser
Assistent lichtontwerp: Doef Beernink
Assistent choreografie: Kim Kohlmann
Artistiek directewur Hofesh Shechter Company: Bruno Guillore

World premiere 3 November 2023, Göteborg Opera.

Katrín Hall, Artistic Director, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani

FIND
With FIND (Fonds Internationale Dans), Amare, Holland Dance Festival and Nederlands Dans Theater join forces to bring high-profile international dance productions to The Hague and to further profile The Hague as the dance city of the Netherlands.

A note from Damien Jalet

Every existence is pulled between a desire to rise and a fear of falling. We fall asleep. We fall in love. Contractions pull us from the maternal cocoon to confront the hard laws of an invisible terrestrial force.
In Skid, it is the human relationship to gravity, with its inherent poetics of resistance and abandonment, that sets the dancers in motion. Skid is performed between verticality and horizontality, on a 34-degree inclined platform. The incline itself is inspired by the gravitational force of the earth: 9.8 meters per second squared. There are only two entrances/exits, one above and one below.

In the space between, dancers draw the physical lines of their story between their appearance and their vanishing. Every movement in this choreographic exploration springs from the limits and new possibilities offered by this incline.

By turns epic, dangerous, and moving, Skid creates a new landscape of physical possibilities, a chain reaction of physical and emotional events. The human body becomes the crossroad where will, collapse and resilience meet, where alterity is often the only comfort against the tug of the void…

“Vertiginous, death defying dance” -GT
“Skid is a must-see work for all who are interested in contemporary dance.” - LondonTheatre1

Hofesh Shechter about Wild Poetry
”The body holds an innocent truth”

Choreographer Hofesh Shechter lets dance to articulate what words cannot capture. In a world of complexity and noise, his work becomes a poetic journey where movements become narratives, and the body speaks its own language.

Why dance?

I was a shy child, and I liked how dancing made me dare to express myself. It was enticing to break the barrier between me and others and thereby feel a bit freer. Dance is also an art form practiced with other people – that appeals to me. I grew up in a small family, so dancing gave me a sense of connection and belonging with a larger group of people. I had to choose between pursuing dance or music. I’ve been playing the piano since I was little and love it, but it’s solitary. In my work as a choreographer, I can combine these two loves. 
For someone who tends to dwell a lot like me, dance is a healthy art form. It makes me let go of my thoughts, and just dive into the emotions. Dance holds a mysterious power. It can make us feel things that words can’t express, beyond what we think and understand. I believe this power can be conveyed from the stage – at least that’s what I wish for my audience – to momentarily let go of rationality and thoughts.

Does this sense of belonging affect your work as a choreographer?

Yes, I think it does. I enjoy finding dynamics in groups, discovering different ways of working together, and the strong drive a group can create. I really appreciate the energy that the dancers and I have found together in the rehearsal room here. It all brings me joy.

When you start rehearsing a piece, do you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve?

I have a clear vision, a starting point. We can liken my work to a football. I kick the ball where I want it to go. Along the way, it bounces into the air, lands on someone’s foot, and is kicked again.When we started rehearsing ”Wild Poetry,” I shared my direction and starting point with the dancers, told them where I wanted to kick the ball, but also indicated when I wanted them to be involved. It’s challenging for me to have control of what each person does in such a large group. That’s why it’s important for everyone to know where we’re heading. It’s also crucial that we share the same energy and that everyone is dedicated to the idea. The dancers here are amazing. They work hard and are incredibly skilled and talented.

Why the title ”Wild Poetry”?

The combination of the words wild and poetry struck a chord with me. The title provides a key to the audience, the dancers, and myself about the kind of world we are entering. 
For me, the title also raises questions like: What is poetry? What is poetic? This brings us closer to questions like: What is culture? How do we tell stories to each other? How do we communicate with each other? From these thoughts, the idea emerged to approach children’s instinctive ways of expression. Children have strong, clear feelings, and I try to create space in the work for this way of expressing oneself. I’m curious about the questions, I don’t have answers and I am only interested in putting the questions out there for us to experience together, to intrigue the imagination. 
In the dance studio. We’ve tried to blur the boundary between the theatrical and the abstract, figuring out what information we can extract from movements and at what point the dance transitions into being solely about emotions. It is part of why I fell in love with the title Wild Poetry.

I feel that I live in a massive, overwhelming flow of information. Constantly bombarded. The work in the end will always have a piece of my life experiences in it… with a little hope that people share these experiences with me and can identify with them. So, inside this ocean of information, the chance of being genuine is little. So many confused definitions and values – the chance of understanding someone fully is narrow. The ability to express something clearly in return, and be fully understood, without filters and misinterpretations is challenging. So here is why I love working with the body… it tells the story straight, from the very vessel that experiences life. Perhaps this answers the first question, ”Why dance?” Because human integrity always comes from the body. The body holds an innocent truth. 

Soon in Amare