An exhilarating premiere mix of highly physical, dynamic dance
Introdans kicks off the 2024/2025 season with a programme that’s all about heroes. Everyone seems to be a hero on social media these days. But who are our real heroes? In the HEROES programme, Introdans focuses on this theme in a number of high-energy and enthralling choreographies by three choreographers and a choreographer duo, each with their own very individual, unique voice. Daily Hero is a piece by Regina van Berkel, a Dutch choreographer who has enjoyed her greatest success abroad. Introdans is performing this work for the first time, and for the company it has now been specially extended with a stunning finale. This is followed by a choreographic jewel recently acquired by Introdans: SH-BOOM!, marking a long-overdue return of top choreographer duo Sol León and Paul Lightfoot to Dutch venues. Choreographer Inbal Pinto has created the third work in HEROES: the Dutch premiere of the sophisticated, melancholic Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Finally, the special guest dancers appearing in Iungo – The Encounter 2024 by Introdans choreographer Adriaan Luteijn are heroes for sure.
“A very diverse programme with ballets that vary in style, ranging from highly virtuoso and acrobatic to lyrical and poetic,” says artistic director Roel Voorintholt.
HEROES will premiere 20 September 2024 in Amphion Doetinchem.
Tour: 20 September – 29 November 2024
All locations: Doetinchem, Haarlem, Deventer, Nijmegen, Wageningen, Enschede, Den Haag, Zoetermeer, Tiel, Winterswijk, Apeldoorn, Amsterdam, Zwolle, Oss, Amstelveen, Drachten, Kerkrade, Tilburg, Eindhoven, Arnhem
Daily Hero – Regina van Berkel (Introdans premiere)
In Daily Hero (2013) a troupe of heroes parades before a towering golden archway as if walking along a high fashion catwalk. Mozart, Marilyn Monroe, popstars, or tomorrow’s superstars waiting to be discovered? You can let your own imagination run wild. Van Berkel examines the phenomenon of the hero in a dynamic, contemporary choreography. What makes someone a hero? Is heroism something you can acquire, is it an ideal, a guiding principle, or are you simply born a hero?
SH-BOOM! – Sol León and Paul Lightfoot
SH-BOOM! (1994) is one of the earliest works by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, who choreographed for Nederlands Dans Theater for many years. They drew their inspiration here from the satirical black-and-white drawings of the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya. And just like the wonderful and striking achievements in their later oeuvre, in this jewel too they masterfully combine the dark aspects (irony) and the light aspects (humour) of life. SH-BOOM!, set to popular songs of the 1930s and 40s, transports you into a theatrical hall of mirrors where the ladies dance in flamboyant dresses and the gentlemen stand – literally – in their underwear.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Inbal Pinto (Introdans premiere)
Choreographer Inbal Pinto has made a new version of her widely praised choreography Fugue (2018) specially for HEROES. This new version is entitled Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Reflecting on past lives, bygone worlds, lost loved ones and memories that resonate like a distant inner voice, Pinto paints a spectrum of colours and feelings in this melancholy and simultaneously warm choreography. Humour, in a subtle form, is always part of Pinto’s work, but her unique and quirky creations are above all poetic and often mysterious. Or as artistic director Roel Voorintholt puts it: “They resemble little poems in which every word, every movement has significance.”
Iungo – The Encounter 2024 – Adriaan Luteijn and guests (world premiere)
‘Iungo’ is the Latin word for ‘I bring together / I connect’, and that’s exactly what Introdans choreographer Adriaan Luteijn can do like no other. In his series De Ontmoeting (The Encounter) – of which Iungo is part of – he has been bringing together people from different physical, social, cultural and intellectual backgrounds with academically trained modern prof dancers for more then twenty years. The aim is to show that dance is for everyone and that even dancers who don’t represent the standard picture, can deeply move and amaze an audience. Previously Luteijn presented versions of Iungo in Japan, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa, coming October it will also go to China. In this new edition of Iungo that Luteijn created for HEROES, dancers from Introdans meet two guest dancers, each of whom excels in their own way: presenter / writer Eva Eikhout (who performed also in Pro Forma 1, 2 and HubClub’23) and the Ugandan star contemporary dancer Joseph Tebandeke who Luteijn met on a festival in South Africa.