Bye Bye Land (premiere) – Daan Wijnands
The well-known musical and theatre choreographer Daan Wijnands (known from Hij gelooft in mij, Hello Dolly, All Stars and Alex Klaassens’ Showponies) is creating a new work for the End of Season Gala: Bye Bye Land. This will be a vibrant, revue-like choreography, about saying goodbye. An ode to MGM film musicals, set to the music of La La Land. Wijnands, trained as a dancer, switched to musicals and developed into one of the most successful choreographers in the musical genre. What inspired him for this choreography are the connections that Introdans is able to find with other performers, makers from different worlds. “End of Season is emphatically about unexpected collaboration and connection. I know that both the ensemble and I are in our strength with this new piece. The challenge is that dancers step out of their comfort zone, just like myself” said Daan Wijnands. The result is an energetic and playful choreography.

Rara Avis (premiere) – Adriaan Luteijn & Chantal de Vries
Introdans choreographers Adriaan Luteijn and Chantal de Vries are once again creating a unique encounter specially for this End of Season Gala. This time several Introdans dancers and a group of well-known drag queens, led by the flamboyant Ma’MaQueen (an alias of Venus Bijleveld), will share the stage in a new, spectacular choreography. The Encounter is a concept that Adriaan Luteijn has developed over the past twenty years with performers who come from a wide variety of physical, social, cultural and intellectual worlds. For instance the Dutch Olympic Volleyball team, hiphop-waacking and voguing dancers, older people, dancers with different physical and/or intellectual abilities, or even whole families, all of whom he places alongside professional dancers (Introdancers), and always with remarkable results.  Luteijn enjoys ‘serendipities’, special opportunities that cross his path and that also inspire people with whom he creates. The drag queens who will shine on stage with Ma’MaQueen and the Introdancers are: Xtra Xceptit, Roseè-Sheneè Plastique, REUS and Licka Lolly.

(duet from) Loin – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is a master in creating exceptional duets. Loin is about distance: distance between individuals, countries and cultures, but also about what connects us as people and how we can overcome distance. One moment the duet from Loin is meditative and hallucinatory, the next down-to-earth. The connecting factor is Cherkaoui’s flowing, organic dance language and his characteristic, dizzyingly fast arm movements. ‘His dance idiom is an eclectic mix of classical steps, acrobatic partner work and vogue-like hand choreographies. But the nice thing here is that the stylistic variations never clash,’ wrote NRC Handelsblad after the Dutch premiere.

Bon Appétit!, Three and Takademe – Robert Battle
This End of Season Gala also features three creations by Robert Battle, up til November 20223 artistic director of the famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. The first work, Bon Appétit!, is full of tribal and Latin influences. Battle even makes a subtle, ironic reference to cannibalism, but above all the choreography is an abstract, rhythmically very powerful translation of Steve Reich’s masterful Music for pieces of wood. 

The second work, Three, was nominated for the Swan Award, the leading choreography prize in the Netherlands, as ‘Most Impressive Dance Production’. This is a hilarious and athletic power piece in which three men dive into a ‘muscular jam session’. “Never before have we seen such a successful and complete fusion of hip-hop, breakdance and modern dance,” said the jury of the Swans. And they continue: “Nowhere does it lack focus, the physical control is superb, you can see the performers having a great time and their concentration is incomparable.” 

For the third work, Takademe, Robert Battle drew inspiration from the musical rhythms of classical Indian kathak dance. However, the short choreography is by no means ‘classical’: the choreographer used the fast and angular rhythms of the kathak for a contemporary, exceptionally virtuoso male solo. Battle’s Takademe is a delightful exposé of energy and dance pleasure.

Wrapped – Inbal Pinto
The End of Season Gala celebration is completed by the duet from Inbal Pinto’s absurdist Wrapped. The piece has won several prizes including a prestigious American Bessie Award. In this audience favourite, Pinto combines humour and poetry into a visually rich imaginary world to create, as he puts it, an urban legend. ‘A fantastic breath of fresh air’ wrote de Volkskrant.

Saying Goodbye
At the End of Season Gala, several dancers who have been members of Introdans for many years will be saying goodbye to the dance stage: Alberto Villanueva Rodríguez, Jurriën Schobben, Merel Janssen and Yulanne de Groot. Artistic director Roel Voorintholt: “Our dancers Alberto, Jurriën, Merel and Yulanne will say goodbye as dancers during End of Season 2024 after many years of dancing career at Introdans. During this evening we will reflect on this, put them in the spotlight and allow them to showcase their talents one more time. We are extremely grateful to them for all those wonderful years with our company!”