The Artsts Are Present - Dag 3 route A

Name: The Artsts Are Present - Dag 3 route A — ICK Dans Amsterdam / Artist Space
Start: 2023-12-15T20:00:00+01:00
Location: Frascati

ICK Dans Amsterdam / Artist Space

Fri 15 Dec ’23 20:00

Double bill Roshanak Morrowatian / Collectief MAMM + Merel Severs & Milou van Duijnhoven + pop-up surprise performances.

Fri 15 Dec ’23

20:00

Fri 15 Dec ’23

20:00

Frascati

Frascati 2 TAAP

Past event

The Artists Are Present is ICK Dans Amsterdam's festival in which the new generation of artists present themselves to the public and share the floor with each other. After the first successful edition last autumn in Nieuw-West, the festival now takes place for the first time in Frascati. From Wednesday 13 to Friday 15 December, young dance and performance makers will take you on an exciting journey of discovery in a dynamic programme of performances, installations, unexpected pop-up presentations and talks.

Day 3 route A

The Artists Are Present works with two different routes per evening. This way, you can visit two shows per evening and enjoy the pop-up performances in between. Via route 3A you'll first see Try not to know what you know and afterwards visit the double bill Indigo en Blackstone and no strings attached. The evening is hosted by Robin Nimanong. In between performances you can enjoy Robin's pop-up performances and scenes from FUNK by Christan Gueramatchi.

Try not to know what you know (scènes) - Merel Severs & Milou van Duijnhoven

In the physical theatrical performance Try not to know what you know, Merel Severs and Milou van Duijnhoven step into a self-constructed arena, in which they explore both desire and aversion to heroism. They let go of what they think they know and make a new proposition; in constant motion, transformative, fluid and ambiguous.

Playing with martial arts, destruction, creation and everything in between, they attempt to free themselves from the conditioned body where violence seems to win out over connection. In a constant alternation between being and not being in contact with themselves and the other, they scan a universe where they turn the limited image inside out with unheard voices. What do they want to move in today's world?

About Merel Severs

Maker and performer Merel Severs (1991) graduated from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht in 2013. In her work, Merel seeks to celebrate vulnerability and radical shamelessness. Her language is forthcoming, fluid and shows empathy for the unnamable. She brings uncomfortable themes to light with humor, and loves exposing that which everyone prefers to keep hidden.

In 2020, she made her debut with the solo Let me tell you something you already know, which won her the Best of Fringe 2020 and was nominated for the BNG Bank Theater Prize 2022. In 2023, she was nominated for the Nederlandse Theaterfestival. Together with her performers Barnaby Savage and Milou van Duijnhoven, she puts collaboration and exchange at the heart of her practice. Together they share a (dance) studio called Dance Space Destiny, as part of De Sloot in Amsterdam.

Duration Try Not To Know What You Know: 30 min
Duration double bill: 40 min
Afterparty with DJ Funkstyle to conclude the festival till 01:00 in Frascati Café.

Part of

The Artists Are Present

Credits

Double bill: Indigo en Blackstone
choreography Roshanak Morrowatian, in collaboration with performers Ema Rodrigo Dias and Dieke de Gendt based on a text by Abdelkader Benal

Double bill: No Strings Attached
makers en dansers Maxime Abbenhues, Mees Meeuwsen music Tom van Wee video Jesse Immanuel Bom
dramaturgy Isabel Meloen coaching Camiel Corneille

Try not To Know What You Know
concept Merel Severs performers and creation Merel Severs & Milou van Duijnhoven dramaturgy Fernando Belfiore design Publik Universal Frxnd stunt coordinator Geoffrey Thompson light design Rob Daanen text fragments Alok Vaid Menon, Adrian Piper artistic supervision and production Theater a/d Rijn, affiliated with De Nieuwe Oost made possible by Amarte Fonds, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst en Fonds21

Double bill: Indigo en Blackstone - Roshanak Morrowatian / No Strings Attached - Collectief MAMM

Indigo en Blackstone (work in progress): Roshanak Morrowatian conducts choreographic research with the text Indigo and Blackstone by writer Abdelkader Benali. This research focuses on the relationship between dance and language. Together with dancers from ICK Next, Roshanak has worked with themes such as sisterhood, homelessness and the paradox of an infinite desire to arrive somewhere and at the same time keep moving.

On Oct. 6 and 7, this ‘prologue’ for the double-bill of ICK’s New Adventures-presentations was on view at ICK Dans Amsterdam/Space for Dance Art. The final result is presented during The Artists Are Present.

No Strings Attached Connected to the wall by a bungee cord, two dancers run as fast as they can, relentless and determined to reach their goal. They sabotage each other, challenge each other, give up and start again. Until one of the dancers, too tired to continue, discovers the impasse and slowly realizes not to work against it anymore, but to run with it. To use it to their own advantage and make themselves stronger. They discover the hidden possibilities that lie within it and a playful game begins.

The bungee cords attached to the dancers are a metaphor for how we experience life. We can all identify with the feeling that life can work against you. That feeling of an invisible force pulling you back, preventing you from reaching your goal. You push, run, crawl as hard as you can, but you never seem to make it. It is as if this higher force, this universe, does not want you to reach your goal. What if this invisible force suddenly became visible?

About Roshanak Morrowatian

In her work, Roshanak Morrowatian highlights unnoticed details, invisible people and forgotten stories. With her company Rover, she creates interdisciplinary dance performances based on social engagement. As an artist, Roshanak explores the physicality of memories, the fluidity of traditions and the diasporic identity. In 2023, she created House of Strength, in which she reworks an ancient Persian ritual into a contemporary celebration of collectivity. Roshanak is engaged in a New Makers trajectory at ICK, supported by the Dutch Performing Arts Fund and partners Korzo, VIA ZUID and Parkstad Limburg Theaters.

About Collectief MAMM

Collectief MAMM, consisting of Maxime Abbenhues and Mees Meeuwsen, works with partnering techniques that are not based on strength, but on sharing momentum to move another body. In their performances, they explore the phenomenon of 'the twenty-something' and their concepts are rooted in how they as young adults view the world today, to give an insight into a still often misunderstood generation. In 2023-2024, they engage in a New Adventures residency with 'bungee cords' as a metaphor for today's inability to stop and stand still: no strings attached.