Dutch Masters from Dutch National Ballet

Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam
September 14, 2016

Maggie Foyer

“A tulip is a rose with a Calvinist upbringing.” I can’t remember who coined this phrase but it seems to have resonance with Dutch dance. The rose may be emblematic of ballet but the Dutch have trimmed the frills, emboldened the colour and streamlined the design. So too with the Dutch National Ballet: defined by classical excellence, inspired design and movement that speaks with honest intent and nowhere are these qualities more visible than in the work of Toer van Schayk.

Dutch Masters programme opened with a video tribute to van Schayk who turns 80 this month. It gave a taste of the broad scope of his talents working as dancer, choreographer and designer of sets and costumes; and in each role he has proved himself an artist of the highest calibre. In parallel with these achievements, he is as well an internationally recognised sculptor and his concerns reach beyond the art world to the environment and our destruction of nature. As one of the contributors noted, Toer’s work isn’t just about dance, “it’s about life itself.”

The dance opened and closed with ballets from van Schayk. Episodes of Fragments, first presented at the Gala had a second showing. It is a warm and human interaction between two dancers and two musicians. Qian Liu and Young Gyu Choi, engaging in a conversation as much apart as together but concluding in an ecstatic spin as Liu extends and curls her legs in delight before they exit together.

Requiem, is a reworking of the ballet he first choreographed to Mozart’s score in 1990 here using van Schayk’s new translation of the Latin text. He notes that in our cynical age sin lacks its 18th-century potency but believes mankind’s great modern sin is our damage to nature and particularly animals and this he makes explicit. There is evidence that Mozart believed he was writing his own requiem which adds poignancy to this uniquely heartbreaking work, the most popular of all Requiems.

It is a monumental work, four solo singers and around 37 dancers, with the breadth of this huge stage exposed in a harsh monochrome design with sepulchral overtones. The blocks of dancers, reminiscent of a Greek chorus, worked in unison to give a sense of Biblical apocalypse but the tender passages in the music invited a more nuanced expression. The commitment of all was impressive, but especially noteworthy was Floor Eimers, a tall dancer who moved with great passion and power. There were disturbing images: Clemens Frölich restrained by a rope round his neck but still dominating petite Aya Okumura. But mainly a great deal of formidable choreography performed by the company at their best with Young Gyu Choi and Edo Wijnen outstanding.

The video images of death and destruction were less successful. Smudgy and shown for only brief moments they seemed more an apology than a statement and I would happily dispense with them and leave the dance to speak.

Hans van Manen was represented by Adagio Hammerklavier with the inimitable Olga Khoziainova at the piano and a restless panel of silk blowing in the wind as backdrop. Created in 1973 this is van Manen experimenting with ballet, wilfully ignoring the rules and inventing a new vocabulary. Igone de Jongh effortlessly makes all the right moves and partner, Jozef Varga follows up with a solo of interesting oddness. Daniel Camargo made an impressive debut with Anna Tsygankova whose classicism translates so boldly into van Manen’s style. Anna Ol offers a different tone, her gamine fragility well matched by Arthur Shesterikov’s elegance.

From the third ‘Van’ – Rudi van Dantzig’s ever popular Four Last Songs to Richard Strauss’ elegiac music. The sorrowful theme is balanced by the calm acceptance of the dancers, sheer beauty of the choreography and simplicity of designs (by van Schayk). Vito Mazzeo was well cast as the Angel, his height and impeccable line enhanced by an air of quiet authority. It was interesting to see Suzanna Kaic and Wijnen, more often seen in fierce virtuoso dance, now succumbing to the sadness of the soul while Sasha Muhamedov and James Stout too, gently surrendered to the lyricism. Ol and Shesterikov wore their hearts on their sleeves bringing overt passion to the third duet with De Jongh and Varga completing the cast to make this a truly memorable performance.

In a heartwarming postscript, Toer van Schayk was granted the honour of Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau. It was presented on stage by Minister of Culture, Jet Bussemaker, who described him as “a wonderful, unique person.”