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Duet of Forms
“Tidal”
Noord Nederlandse Dans
Baryshnikov Arts Center
New York, NY
December 3, 2010By Martha Sherman
Copyright © 2010 by Martha Sherman
In its US premiere, Noord Nederlandse Dans created an exotic duet: Not between dancers, but between a dance and an eerily sweet vocal score. “Tidal,” choreographed by Stephen Shropshire, was a mix of muscular, androgynous patterns; the music, a combination of hard-to-follow sung poetry and gentle electronic noises and tones. Because of the focused engagement between the singer and the dancers, both artistic forms were enhanced.
NND was established in the Dutch city of Groningen in 1997; Shropshire become the artistic director in 2009, having studied and worked with Benjamin Harkavy at Julliard, and danced and choreographed with Galili Dance. The athleticism of Shropshire’s training and artistic provenance colors NND’s repertory. “Tidal,” part of his ongoing partnership with composer Anne Parlevliet and popular Dutch singer, Nynke Laverman, is one of a group of works they’ve shown across Europe.
In the opening and closing segments, Laverman entered to the soft whoosh of an electronic breeze. She looked around the stage and sang a melody of single haunting notes that summoned the first pair of dancers, male duet Nir Veledniger and Gaetano Badalamenti. This powerful duo anchored the opening and closing of all three dance segments, but they were most often a trio, with Laverman.
In a structure reminiscent of the structure of a good gym class, Shropshire moved from a focus on large muscle groups to a less successful reliance on small muscles. His choreography focused on parallel and interweaving bodies, either the full cast of nine, or four pairs who danced in well-spaced squares or diamonds. The pairings were asexual; the primary hint about who were male and female was that the women’s costumes didn’t leave them bare-chested.
The first segment, “Undertow,” featured big, lush movement – the dancers lunged, bent in deep low squats, and raised their limbs into perfect 90 degree then 180 degree lifts, all seemingly with such ease. The second part, “Stormbell” also opened with a big, strong image, dancers sliding onto a dark stage, propelled by their powerful thighs, like crabs on their backs.
“Stormbell” added small tics and facial expressions out of Hieronymous Bosch, the dancers’ fingers picking and twitching around their bodies, their mouths in wide, sneering Os. Except for the screaming mouths, most of the smaller movements in this segment seemed irrelevant. By the final segment, “Coral,” Shropshire moved to even weaker movement choices, several of them mime-based (hands popping against an invisible wall, and fingers pinched to drop and retrieve phantom objects.) But the dancers’ sculpted backs and resolutely strong movement continued to hold and deserve our attention.
Even with the musicians onstage, there is usually a separation between the musicians and the dancers. Not here; the relationship was immediately established by the unexpected directness of their eye contact. Laverman didn’t just sing her story-song; she centered the dance itself, standing almost mid-stage as Veledniger and Badalamenti stretched their bodies around her. She watched, leaned, circled, and visually interacted with the dancers as if to influence their movements and urge them on. Seven additional dancers joined the opening pair and the direct link to the singer was harder; although her wide smile tried to embrace them all, it couldn’t.
In addition to the extended piercing melody that she sang alone or in duet with the electronic soundtrack, Laverman had a story to tell. Her complex English song/poem started as the story of a lonely boy. The storyline and verbal images were hard to follow, especially if the viewer chose to focus more on the movement than the words. About midway through “Undertow,” I stopped trying. I caught phrases (“Are you one of them?” “Did you think I could escape by taking your breath into my mouth?”) but lost the story early on. The piece’s published theme was “the threads that exist between frustrated desires and morbid behavior;” yet that wasn’t what I took away. Instead, it was about the threads between sound and movement, voice and body, words and motion — a worthy enough effort in itself.
copyright © 2010 by Martha Sherman
Photos by: Karel Zwaneveld
Top: Noord Nederlandse Dans company members in “Tidal”
Middle: Zina Zinckenko in “Stormbell”
Bottom: Nynke Laverman and Nir Veledniger in “Undertow”
Noord NeDerlANdSe – Tidal, New York Times
Noord Nederlandse Dans (Thursday) Led by the American choreographer Stephen Shropshire, this nine-member troupe will have its first performances in the United States with “Tidal,” a three-part, hourlong work including live vocal accompaniment and an electronic score. (Through Dec. 3.) At 7:30 p.m., Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th Street, Manhattan , (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com; $25. (La Rocco)
Noord NeDerlANdSe – Tidal, New York Metro Parents
Noord Nederlandse Dans Makes US Debut at BAC 12/2-3
by NYC News Desk
Artistic Director and Choreographer, Stephen Shropshire, announced that his nine-member contemporary dance company, Noord Nederlandse Dans, will make its United States debut at the Baryshnikov Arts Center Thursday, December 2 and Friday, December 3. The company will perform Tidal, a three part work which features live on-stage vocal accompaniment.
Tidal is American choreographer Stephen Shropshire’s newest work exploring an abstract world of frustrated dreams and repressed desires. In three sections, Undertow, Stormbell and Coral, Shropshire, together with acclaimed Dutch singer Nynke Laverman and electronic composer Anne Parlevliet, creates a contemporary dialogue between electronic music and movement. Nynke Laverman is a popular Dutch singer who has recorded three solo albums, winning an Edison Music Award for her latest album “Nomade.”In Tidal, a 60-minute dark and passionate work about the threads of thought existing between frustrated desires and morbid behavior, Laverman appears on stage as a storyteller navigating vocal interpretations between light and dark. Stretching their artistic borders through collaboration, Shropshire, Laverman and Parlevliet have constructed an abstract portrait of desire, rage and redemption. Tidal had its world premiere October 21, 2010 in Groningen, the Netherlands.
Noord Nederlands Dans
Established in 1997 by the Dutch Ministry of Culture, Noord Nederlands Dans is based in Groningen, the Netherlands, and is the flagship company for the northern provinces of the country. The company has long been known for its athleticism, musicality and virtuosity being a frequent guest at foreign festivals and venues in countries such as Brazil, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Israel, Spain, Finland, Japan and Russia.Artistic Director Stephen Shropshire was born in Miami, FL and trained at the Juilliard School under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy. Upon graduation, Shropshire joined the American Repertory Ballet where he began to choreograph. Between 1994 and 1999 he created three works for the Princeton based company. Benjamin Harkarvy, an original founder of Nederlands Dans Theater, invited Shropshire to the Netherlands where he met Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili, with whom he worked at NND/Galili Dance for a number of years, later returning as Artistic Director to Noord Nederlandse Dans in 2009. He has since become a much sought after choreographer at home and abroad creating original new works for Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Station Zuid, Iceland Dance Company, NorrDans, National Dance Company of Wales and the Holland Dance Festival in The Hague.
About his work Shropshire states, “I spent a great many years studying music in preparation for a career as a vocalist. I believe that history plays a vital role in understanding how I create and see my work. The body, like the voice, has this extraordinary ability to bypass the cerebral. Through its exercise it becomes an instrument for virtuosity – just like a great singer. The balance of tone, the wall of sound and the harmonies are what thrill me. What I am most interested in is finding that same extraordinary potential within the dancer’s virtuosic instrument.”
A previous collaboration between Anne Parlevliet and Stephen Shropshire, Sugarwater, was ranked by the London’s Telegraph as one of England’s top ten dance triumphs of 2008. “A three-parter, playing out to Handel-inspired music by Anne Parlevliet, and concluding with a duet of quite overwhelming sensuality that’s danced with love by Wayne Parsons and Jenny White. One of the finds of 2008.” (Telegraph, Mark Monahan)
PERFORMANCE, TICKET PRICES AND VENUE INFORMATION
Noord Nederlands Dans
Thursday, December 2 at 7:30pm
Friday, December 3 at 7:30pmBaryshnikov Arts Center
Howard Gilman Performance Space (4th floor)
450 West 37th Street, New York, New York 10018Ticket price: $25
Tickets: SmartTix at www.smarttix.com, 212-868-4444
Information: www.noordnederlandsedanc.nl, www.bacnyc.org
Noord NeDerlANdSe – Tidal, TimeOut
Noord Nederlandse Dans
Baryshnikov Arts Center,Dec 02 – Dec 03 7:30pm.450 W 37th St (between Ninth and Tenth Aves)Subway: A, C, E to 34th St–Penn Station$25This Dutch contemporary troupe presents Stephen Shropshire’s look at furstrated dreams and repressed desires: Tidal.
Noord Nederlandse Dans – Coral (Work in Progress)
Camera: Martin J. A. Lambeek
Montage: Regina Broersma
Noord Nederlandse Dans – Stormbell
Camera: Martin J. A. Lambeek
Montage: Regina Broersma
“Indrukwekkende dansvoorstelling van Stephen Shropshire en zijn team”
24 oktober 2010
Een indrukwekkende dansvoorstelling van Stephen Shropshire en zijn team was het gisteravond in de schouwburg te Groningen! Niet in de laatste plaats door de bijdrage van zangeres Nynke Laverman. Met haar prachtige stem creëerde ze, als een ware tovenares, in bijpassende zwarte kleding, samen met de dansers van het NND een sfeer van schaduw en onbewustheid, van dromerige onheilspellendheid. Het was duidelijk merkbaar dat choreograaf Stephen Shropshire, componiste Anne Parlevliet en Nynke Laverman een creatieve en muzikaal vloeiende verbinding hadden gezocht en gevonden. Dit kwam tot uiting in de samenhang die de choreografie, het decor, muziek en licht met elkaar hadden.
Het eerste deel Undertow speelde in het onbewuste, de onderstroom waarin allerlei verdrongen behoeften en emoties over elkaar heen leken te rollen. De plek waar veel mensen niet van (willen) weten maar dat van grote invloed op het bewuste is. Wat bleek in het tweede deel van het drieluik: Stormbell. Hierin kwamen allerlei begeerten aan het licht. Mooi ondersteund in het decor van betonelementen waar van bovenaf het zwarte pek van niet erkende begeerten langzaam naar beneden stroomde. Niets onderhuids meer, maar egoïstisch vechten om bezit en bevrediging van gevoelde behoeften. Er lijkt een dure prijs te worden betaald, want de behoeften van de ander zijn hierbij duidelijk niet van belang. Dit dynamische deel sprak mij het meest aan.
Het derde deel Coral waar langzaam het besef doordringt dat we nu eenmaal zijn zoals we zijn met al onze grillige, behoeftige en onbewuste kanten. Waar een soort balans ontstaat waarin we misschien kunnen leven met ons mens-zijn. Er ontstaat toenadering en er is ruimte voor vergeving en verbinding. Al zijn we onze onschuld verloren (bewust als we zijn geworden van onze schaduwkanten) en kunnen we niet terug naar het paradijs van de illusies: we hebben in ieder geval elkaar nog.
Noord NeDerlANdSe – Undertow/Preview Tidal
Noord Nederlandse Dans met Nynke Laverman – UndertowLocatie: Philipszaal, Park Theater, EindhovenIn de aanloop naar de voorstelling ‘Tidal’, die ook op 8 dec in het Parktheater te zien is, vindt er een eenmalige voorproef plaats van ‘Undertow’. Tidal bestaat uit drie onderdelen en ‘Undertow’ is er daar één van. Tidal is een samenwerking van het gezelschap onderleiding van Stephen Shropshire i.s.m. zangeres NynkeLaverman en componiste Anne Parlevliet
Op donderdag 21 oktober gaat in de Stadsschouwburg Groningen de voorstelling ‘Tidal’ van Noord Nederlandse Dans in première. In deze voorstelling werk artistiek leider en choreograaf Stephen Shropshire nauw samen met zangeres Nynke Laverman en componiste Anne Parlevliet. ‘Tidal’ belooft daarmee een bijzonder samenspel te worden tussen dans en livemuziek en brengt zowel Laverman als de fantastische dansers van Noord Nederlandse Dans op het podium.
In de aanloop naar ‘Tidal’ is er op maandag 31 mei onder de titel ‘Undertow’ een eenmalige presentatie. Deze introductie vormt het resultaat van een korte maar intensieve periode, waarin Shropshire, Laverman, Parlevliet en de dansers de basis voor ‘Tidal’ hebben gelegd. ‘Undertow’ is dus een work in progress, een uitgelezen moment om de weg die de makers tot dusver hebben gevolgd aan u te tonen en hierover openhartig met u in gesprek te gaan. Maar ‘Undertow’ is vooral een tip van de sluier van wat een prachtig Noord Nederlands Dans-succes moet worden, met ook nu Laverman en de dansers op het podium.
Camera: Mattnh, Videomontage: Reggie
Noord Nederlandse Dans en Nynke Laverman
Op donderdag 21 oktober gaat in de Stadsschouwburg Groningen de voorstelling ‘Tidal’ van Noord Nederlandse Dans in première. In deze voorstelling werk artistiek leider en choreograaf Stephen Shropshire nauw samen met zangeres Nynke Laverman en componiste Anne Parlevliet. ‘Tidal’ belooft daarmee een bijzonder samenspel te worden tussen dans en livemuziek en brengt zowel Laverman als de fantastische dansers van Noord Nederlandse Dans op het podium.
In de aanloop naar ‘Tidal’ is er op maandag 31 mei onder de titel ‘Undertow’ een eenmalige presentatie. Deze introductie vormt het resultaat van een korte maar intensieve periode, waarin Shropshire, Laverman, Parlevliet en de dansers de basis voor ‘Tidal’ hebben gelegd. ‘Undertow’ is dus een work in progress, een uitgelezen moment om de weg die de makers tot dusver hebben gevolgd aan u te tonen en hierover openhartig met u in gesprek te gaan. Maar ‘Undertow’ is vooral een tip van de sluier van wat een prachtig Noord Nederlands Dans-succes moet worden, met ook nu Laverman en de dansers op het podium.
