Shut Eye

"I shut my eyes in order to see" - Paul Gaugin
In Shut Eye, house choreographers Sol León and Paul Lightfoot have captured their innovative poetic approach towards contemporary dance once again. This piece expresses a world full of fantasy, that carries symbolic meanings behind the dynamic use of black and white, light and shadow. Shut Eye offers the spectator a glimpse into a surrealistic world that asks the question: is what we see limited by our senses or is it conditioned by how we let our brain manipulate images through our emotions?
 

Woke up Blind

The songs You and I and The Way Young Lovers Do by Jeff Buckley, who died tragically and young, deal with love in different ways: the first is slow, with very stretched-out vocals; the second features fast, almost hectic guitar accompaniment. Both songs form the basis for Marco Goecke’s latest choreography Woke up Blind. The two female and five male dancers are drawn into an acoustic world in which they excel in contesting with Buckley’s vocal power and his frenetic guitar sounds. Like young lovers, they throw themselves into the unknown regardless of the consequences, driven purely by longing. In Woke up Blind, Goecke has once again managed to reach the core of human emotions through pure, highly complex movement. —Nadja Kadel 

The Statement

The Statement is a wedge of realism, cold and current. One recognizes both the characters and the language as being of our world and our time. The Statement is a one-act play, with four characters locked in their own battle for control, and faced with the morality of their actions: they have been tasked with fueling a conflict in a distant country. Character “A” declares: “For generations they’ve been fighting. All we did was use it. We used it as an opportunity - the attacks - for investment. For growth. We used it.” Now, being asked to take responsibility for their actions to exonerate their superiors, a conflict is rising within their department.  — Crystal Pite

 

Bedroom Folk

Creators Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar have worked together and with musician Ori Lichtik, as an innovative trio in the contemporary dance world for years. For their new creation for NDT 1 they have engaged in a first time collaboration with set and lighting designer Thierry Dreyfus. In this multi-disciplinary effort, sound and lighting stand side by side, creating pieces that transcend the borders of ‘traditional’ contemporary dance and transform all elements into equal protagonists.

Paul Lightfoot, Artistic Director and House Choreographer

Paul Lightfoot was born in England. He joined NDT 1 as a dancer in 1985. With the encouragement of the then artistic director Jiří Kylián, he became a choreographer. Together with his creative partner Sol León, he has created over 50 works for the company since 1989. In 2002, he and León were appointed house choreographers of NDT. Many of their classic works continue to be performed around the world. In 2011, Lightfoot was named NDT’s artistic director, a post he continues to hold today.
 

WU Meng-ke, Dancer of NDT 1

WU was born in Taichung and joined NDT 2 in 2010, and before that was studying at the Taipei National University of the Arts. She is the first female Taiwanese member of this world-renowned dance company. In 2010, she won the first prize and the Audience Award at the International Solo Dance Theater Festival of Stuttgart. In 2013, she joined NDT 1.
 

Sol León & Paul Lightfoot, House Choreographers

Sol León is from Spain. She joined NDT in 1989 and currently serves as artistic advisor. She has collaborated on over 50 works with Paul Lightfoot for 30 years. Since 2002, this duo has served as NDT house choreographers. Together, they have been recognized with many prestigious awards, such as the Benois de la Danse (Russia), the Herald Archangel Award (UK) and the VSCD Dance Award “Zwaan” for the best dance production, the highest honor in the Dutch dance world.
 

Crystal Pite, Associate Choreographer

Choreographer Crystal Pite is from Canada and one of the most sought-after choreographers today. In 2002, she founded her own company, Kidd Pivot, in Vancouver. Since 2008, she has been associate choreographer of NDT. Miss Pite has received numerous awards, most recently, a Laurence Olivier Award (2015) for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. Her work has been described by The New Yorker as “of astonishing beauty and thoughtfulness.”
 

Marco Goecke, Associate Choreographer

Marco Goecke has been NDT’s associate choreographer since 2013. Goecke currently also serves the role of house choreographer of the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany. From 2006 to 2011, he was the choreographer of the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. Goecke has also choreographed productions for many other prestigious dance companies around the world. He was awarded the Prix Nijinsky (France) in 2006 and honored by the German dance magazine TANZ as Choreographer of the Year in 2015.

Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Guest Choreographers

Choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar are an innovative duo from Israel who have gained worldwide attention. From 1990 to 2008, Eyal served as associate artistic director and house choreographer for the Batsheva Dance Company of Israel. In 2005, she began collaborating with Behar. Together, they formed the dance company L-E-V in 2013. Eyal was honored with an award for young dance creators by Israel’s Ministry of Culture in 2004 and with the Landau Prize for the Performing Arts in the dance category in 2009. She is also the recipient of the Belgrade Dance Festival’s Jovan Ćirilov Award, the prestigious Fedora Prize and the French Professional Association of Dance & Theater Critics Award. 
 

Nederlands Dans Theater  ( NDT )

Nederlands Dans Theater is one of the world’s leading contemporary dance companies, under the artistic guidance of choreographer Paul Lightfoot. The Dutch troupe is based in The Hague, and performs for over 150,000 visitors in Europe as well as in the USA, Asia and Australia. Since its foundation in 1959, this rebellious pioneering company has built a rich repertoire of over 650 ballets, by master choreographers such as Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen, renowned house choreographers Sol León & Paul Lightfoot, associate choreographers Crystal Pite, and Marco Goecke and high-profiled guests such as Johan Inger, Medhi Walerski, Alexander Ekman, Gabriela Carrizo, Franck Chartier, Hofesh Shechter, Edward Clug, and Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar.

The main company NDT 1 consists of 28 phenomenal dancers from all over the world, varying in age between 23 and 40. Each one excells in their solo qualities. The dancers of NDT are renowned for their versatility, astonishing technique and virtuosic expression. By working together with established choreographers, the dancers are provided with the opportunity to employ a multitude of styles that often require an interdisciplinary approach by involving visual art, music composition, and innovative light and set designs. At NDT’s home base in The Hague, all this comes together daily in surroundings that are regarded as a breeding ground, constantly moving ahead to make a significant contribution to the future of dance.

 

Shut Eye

Choreographer / Sol León & Paul Lightfoot

Music / Olafur Arnalds, Bryce Dessner with Kronos 

Light / Tom Bevoort

Set Design / Sol León & Paul Lightfoot

Costumes / Joke Visser, Hermien Hollander

Film Concept / Sol León

Camera and Direction / Rahi Rezvani, Sol León

Film Editing / Dicky Schuttel, Sol León

Woke up Blind

Choreographer / Marco Goecke

Dramaturge / Nadja Kadel

Music / Jeff Buckley

Light / Udo Haberland

Decor and Costumes / Marco Goecke
 

The Statement

Choreographer / Crystal Pite

Music / Owen Belton

Playwright / Jonathon Young

Vocal Performance / Meg Roe, Colleen Wheeler, Andrew Wheeler, Jonathon Young

Light / Tom Visser

Decor / Jay Gower Taylor

Costumes / Crystal Pite, Joke Visser

Bedroom Folk

Choreographers / Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar

Music / Ori Lichtik

Light and Set / Thierry Dreyfus

Assistants / Doug Letheren, Rebecca Hytting

Staged by Lorraine Blouin

Costumes / Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, Doug Letheren, Rebecca Hytting, Thierry Dreyfus