The zeros: the anatomy of something golden

"…the eyes should go
along… they say ballet is behind other arts, no… the eyes of the public are
behind… it’s like modern poetry of which Morriën writes in a poem: you have to
go along just as the words go…"

In an
interview for the 5th anniversary of Nederlands Dans Theater, Hans van Manen
stated that those eyes of the spectator were incredibly important to understand
the idea of modern choreographies.[1] This decade marks the celebration of
NDT’s 50th anniversary and many artistic encounters for which those eyes had
neither lost their importance, nor their relevance. It started, as already
mentioned, with an important changing of the guard. At the turn of the century,
Jiří Kylián had handed over the artistic direction of the company to Marian
Sarstädt, who had been an astonishing NDT dancer during the sixties and early
seventies, and afterwards continued her career as a teacher and artistic
director of the dance department of the Royal Conservatory,The Hague.[2]

Sarstädt remained in this position until January 2004, when Anders Hellström took over. Hellström invited many artists who had crossed his path during his time in Sweden and Germany. The familiar faces of William Forsythe and Mats Ek returned, while new names such as Wayne McGregor, Tero Saarinen, Jacopo Godani, Crystal Pite, Alexander Ekman and Marco Goecke were added to the repertoire. On two different levels Hellström expanded on the idea of accommodating creative needs and providing opportunities for talented artists. In 2008 he initiated the Maximum Dance Course, a programme inviting dancers from all over the world, notwithstanding their level of competence or age, to participate in a two-week summer course to study the repertoire of the company. Nowadays this course is known as the NDT Summer Intensive and emphasises solely on young and talented dance students.[3] In 2005, Hellström had started something similar for young choreographers: UpComing Choreographers. This annual programme, also still running yet in a slightly different form, originally encouraged three dancers of NDT 1 to create for their fellow colleagues – resulting in a run of several performances.[4]

Altogether, those photographers made an important contribution to how the company presented itself over the years. Their photography would illuminate programmes and playbills, and would publicise the work of the company in the streets and in the homes of people in the Netherlands and beyond.[6] Occasionally, other renowned photographers were used to represent the ballets of the repertoire – Josef Sudek, Ben Shahn or Willy Ronis for example.[7] Several campaigns, furthermore, included pieces of photography which, at first glance, might not seem to be the most obvious choice. Otto Snoek and Martin Parr, who contributed to the ‘Tegengif’ (2005) campaign by placing their depiction of the mundane as the antithesis of those delicate movements on stage; or Erwin Olaf who emphasised both the strength and the vulnerability of a dancer’s body in his campaign for the 50th anniversary of the company.[8]

The artistic family of NDT, furthermore, became extended with the introduction of Crystal Pite. Praised for her own choreographic language, her theatricality and unique sense of movement – particularly the swarming masses of bodies on stage – Hellström invited her to create ‘Pilot X’ in 2005 and ‘The Second Person’ in 2007.[13] After these successful performances, she would become associate choreographer in 2008, resulting in pieces as ‘Frontier’ (2008) and ‘Plot Point’ (2010) – and many more over the coming years. Another artistic entanglement, consolidated during this decade, was found in the collaboration with Marco Goecke. In 2008 he created his first piece ‘Nichts’ for the company – a piece that, in line with his other choreographies, gets under the skin of audiences by incredibly fast movements exploring existential questions of loss, fear and madness.[14] Goecke was subsequently inaugurated as associate choreographer a few years later – during the season of 2013-2014.

This short selection is, obviously, part of a much greater tapestry of riches. A magical richness of vulnerable human beings in León & Lightfoot’s ‘Signing Off’ (2003); ‘Silent Screen’ (2005); ‘Shoot the Moon’ (2006); ‘Same Difference’ (2007); and ‘Shutters Shut’ (2003) – presenting the brilliance of precarious gestures on the words of Gertrude Stein reciting her rhythmic poem ‘If I told him’ (1923). A delicate richness of precision in the steps of Kylián’s ‘27’52”’(2002); ‘Claude Pascal’ (2002); ‘Tar and Feathers’ (2006); and ‘Gods and Dogs’ (2008) – exploring the fluid boundaries of normality and insanity while steadfastly winning the prestigious VSCD dance award for best production of the year 2009. A fresh richness in pieces by a young generation of choreographers such as Johan Inger’s ‘Out of Breath’ (2002); Jorma Elo’s ‘1st Flash’ (2003); Wayne McGregor’s ‘Skindex’ (2006); Lukáš Timulak’s ‘Oneness’ (2007); Medhi Walerski’s ‘Mammatus’ (2007); or Alexander Ekman’s outrageous ‘LAB 15’ (2007). And, of course, a familiar richness of qualities by dancers from the company. Yvan Dubreuil, Václav Kuneš, Urtzi Aranburu, Medhi Walerski, Miguel Oliveira, Fernando Hernando Magadan, Bastien Zorzetto, Lydia Bustinduy, Virginie Martinat, Lesley Telford, Valentina Scaglia, Aurélie Cayla and Parvaneh Scharafali. Only a few names on a long list of people holding this company and repertoire together, while definitely ensuring that “the eyes should go along”.