Online programme book

Wildsong

KID IN A CANDY STORE – Jan Martens
Horses – Marcos Morau

Welkom

Emily Molnar

Dear friends,

Welcome to Wildsong! This special programme brings together two distinct voices in contemporary dance today, revealing the versatility and daringness of NDT 1. Wildsong also marks the opening of the 20th anniversary edition of Holland Dance Festival, accompanied by live music performed by the Dutch Ballet Orchestra.

For over four decades, Holland Dance Festival has played a vital role in presenting the full spectrum of dance in the Netherlands and beyond. Its commitment to artistic diversity and exchange resonates deeply with NDT’s own history and values. We could not be prouder to celebrate this milestone with them after many cherished years of collaboration.

“40 years ago, NDT was the co-initiator of the Holland Dance Festival and consequently part of all 20 editions of our festival with memorable productions by NDT 1, 2 or 3. We could not have wished for a more fitting opening of this 20th jubilee edition than the much-anticipated premiere by Jan Martens and Marcos Morau. A huge thank you, Jan Martens, Marcos Morau, Emily Molnar, and all members of NDT for this incredible present on our jubilee.” – Samuel Wuersten, Artistic Director Holland Dance Festival

With this programme, we are delighted to present the NDT debut of Belgian choreographer Jan Martens with his world premiere KID IN A CANDY STORE. Inspired by the intricate and compelling compositions of Julia Wolfe and Hanna Kulenty, Martens challenges our perspectives choreographically and musically through playful and disruptive propositions. Created in close collaboration with the dancers, KID IN A CANDY STORE is a radical invitation to move beyond the familiar while also echoing NDT’s heritage and rebellious beginnings.

In Horses (2024), we return to the imaginative world of our new associate choreographer Marcos Morau. Known for his striking visual style, Morau creates a surreal landscape that reflects on survival in an increasingly complex world – where transformation, uncertainty, and the act of losing our way can be part of moving forward. With its bold theatricality and an evocative score by Andrzej Panufnik and Caroline Shaw, Horses lingers long after the curtain falls.

A heartfelt thanks to Jan, Marcos, Matthew and the Dutch Ballet Orchestra our collaborators, dancers, and the entire NDT team. Congratulations to Samuel Wuersten and the Holland Dance Festival on twenty remarkable editions of dance!

And thank you for being here and sharing this evening with us. Enjoy!

Emily Molnar
Artistic Director

Wildsong will premiere during the 20th Jubilee Edition of the Holland Dance Festival. For the full festival programme, please visit www.holland-dance.com

The performances in Amare, The Hague will be accompanied live by the Dutch Ballet Orchestra.
Conductor: Matthew Rowe, harpsichord: Gośka Isphording.

'Horses' - Marcos Morau. Dancer: Genevieve O'Keeffe. Photo: Rahi Rezvani

Cast information

VIEW TONIGHT’S PERFORMING CAST

Please note: This performance contains flickering light, bright flashes and changing (colour) patterns. This may trigger an epileptic seizure in sensitive individuals. Read more here.

KID IN A CANDY STORE

Jan Martens

Rehearsal photo. Dancer: Sophie Whittome. Photo: Sacha Grootjans

Choreography in collaboration with the NDT dancers

ASSISTANT TO THE CHOREOGRAPHER
Zora Westbroek

MUSIC
Julia Wolfe, Pretty: published/licensed by: © Red Poppy, New York/Albersen Verhuur B.V., ‘s-Gravenhage
Hanna Kulenty, GG Concerto: © by Donemus Publishing, The Netherlands

LIGHT DESIGN
Jan Fedinger

SET DESIGN
Joris van Oosterwijk
Credit goes to ‘The Birth of a Flower’ by F. Percy Smith. Restored by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. Additional support provided by The Eric Anker-Petersen Charity

VIDEO DESIGN
Ennya Larmit

COSTUME DESIGN
Joris van Oosterwijk in collaboration with Yolanda Klompstra and the NDT Costume Atelier

ARTISTIC ADVICE
Renée Copraij, Marc Vanrunxt and Emily Molnar

MUSIC ADVISOR
Jan Pieter Koch

NDT REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Tamako Akiyama, Francesca Caroti

WORLD PREMIERE
4 February 2026, Amare, The Hague

DURATION
40 minutes

Dancer: Conner Bormann. Photo: Sacha Grootjans

DANcERS

Alexander Andison, Demi Bawon, Anna Bekirova, Conner Bormann, Viola Busi, Pamela Campos, Conner Chew, Scott Fowler, Surimu Fukushi, Barry Gans, Ricardo Hartley III, Nicole Ishimaru, Chuck Jones, Paloma Lassere, Genevieve O’Keeffe, Casper Mott, Omani Ormskirk, Kele Roberson, Gabriele Rolle, Rebecca Speroni, Yukino Takaura, Luca Tessarini, Theophilus Veselý, Nicole Ward, Sophie Whittome, Rui-Ting Yu, Zenon Zubyk

View a more detailed version of the casting here

This new production is co-sponsored by Ammodo Art

The costumes and the set design for this new production are co-sponsored by Stichting Zabawas

Jan Martens

Choreographer

About the creation

“Whilst creating this work I often felt very free: opposing radically different dance languages whilst working on the music of Julia Wolfe on the one hand, and on the other encouraging the dancers giving life to Kulenty’s GG Concerto to be rhythmically very strict but at the same time react impulsively and playful to all the beautiful textures and phrasing in this composition.
So when watching these dancers fool around, and observing my own pleasure of being surrounded with these extremely talented artists the sentence “Like a kid in a candy shop” came into my mind.

A definition says that this expression describes someone feeling overwhelming joy, excitement, and unbridled enthusiasm, often leading to uncontrolled or silly behavior, due to being surrounded by many desirable choices or abundance.

Dear audience, I hope this work awakens also in you that kind of childlike feeling: on offer so many beautiful, wild, funny and/or gorgeous movements, instant choices and people to look at, an abundance of life in these dark times.

A huge thanks goes to the deep commitment and artistry of the dancers, to my artistic collaborators and advisors Zora Westbroek, Jan Fedinger, Joris van Oosterwijk, Ennya Larmit, Yolanda Klompstra, Marc Vanrunxt, Renée Copraij, Emily Molnar, and to the huge support of the entire NDT team.

I dedicate this work to Hans Van Manen, who learnt me a lot, above all to remain playful.”
– Jan Martens

Jan Martens in the studio. Photo: Sacha Grootjans

**SCOTT FOWLER about KID IN A CANDY STORE:**

“Listening, in Jan’s work, is an active practice. His approach to a musical score has pushed the walls of our brain outward, making space for a new and highly rigorous method of musical embodiment.

Throughout his process, Jan has handed us numerous excel spreadsheets, filled with numbers, colours, and time codes—his own meticulously structured score of the music. As dancers, counting is second nature, but with one look at Jan’s score it was immediately clear that this was far from the typical 5,6,7,8, and was going to demand a new kind of listening.

The beauty of Jan’s method is that, once understood, it actually draws your attention to musical nuance—both for audience and dancer—rather than diminishing it. As a dancer, I’ve always disliked counting, especially while performing, because it draws my attention to timekeeping, rather than truly listening. With Jan, it’s a different story: his notation guides the way we listen, providing a framework for deeper musical understanding.

With the Kulenty score, he has given us extremely strict musical tasks, paired with an abundance of freedom in our movement choices. The dichotomy was at first frightening, and often still is, but as our understanding of the music deepens, the very elements that once felt frightening begin to reveal themselves as playful.”

Scott (in the middle) during one of the rehearsals. Photo: Sacha Grootjans

**Gabriele Rolle about KID IN A CANDY STORE:**

“Working with Jan and his team has been such a pleasure – we had a very fun time in the studio and I enjoyed being challenged both physically and mentally.

Music and musicality have been our main focus during the creative process and served as the main drive for our movement exploration.

In Jan’s world, dance and music don’t simply support one another: they become one another and merge into one performative entity – to the point that one of the goals of our dancing is to guide the audience through their listening experience, illustrating details and nuances in the score that might go unnoticed without their movement counterparts.

I find this work to be an extremely challenging, yet rewarding journey. I’m interested in how personal choices give shape to collective images, creating new worlds and possibilities.

I’m excited to keep exploring this universe, its hidden details and colorful nuances.
YEPPAAA!”

Horses

Marcos Morau

Dancers: Matthew Foley, Rui-Ting Yu. Photo: Rahi Rezvani

STAGED BY
Shay Partush, Lorena Navarro

MUSIC
Andrzej Panufnik: Arbor Cosmica: IV. Prestissimo possible, XII. Presto, Tragic Overture, Nocturne: published/licensed by © Boosey & Hawkes, Londen/Albersen Verhuur B.V., ’s-Gravenhage
Caroline Shaw, arranged by Julian Azkoul: and the swallow, recorded version: United Strings of Europe, directed by Julian Azkoul on BIS Records (BIS-2549)
Niels Mudde: Basis For Marcos, text by Marco Morau spoken by Genevieve O’Keeffe.
Niels Duursma: 4.
Sound Design by Niels Mudde, Thijs Scheele.
Pauline Oliveros: Sound Patterns, Sony Music publishing

MUSIC ADVISOR
Jan Pieter Koch

LIGHT DESIGN
Tom Visser

SET DESIGN
Max Glaenzel

COSTUME DESIGN
Silvia Delagneau

NDT REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Francesca Caroti

WORLD PREMIERE
16 May 2024, Amare, The Hague

DURATION
30 minutes

Dancers: Scott Fowler, Rui-Ting Yu. Photo: Rahi Rezvani

Dancers

Alexander Andison, Conner Bormann, Pamela Campos, Emmitt Cawley, Casper Mott, Scott Fowler, Genevieve O’Keeffe, Kele Roberson, Theophilus Veselý, Rui-Ting Yu, Zenon Zubyk

This production is co-sponsored by Ammodo Art

Marcos Morau

Associate choreographer

About the creation

It seems that we live halfway between the animal and the human being, between freedom and control, between intuition and the rational, between what we have learned to show and what we really believe we are. And in the midst of this mourning we look for references, we seek to be unique in the midst of the multitude that crosses the world, we look for a focus that illuminates us, but this light not only tells us that there are many paths, it also shows us the fragility of how we are today: Lost.

And clumsy, lost and trained to survive in an increasingly complex world, our steps mark the path of others, our feet take us from here to there, alone, in packs, at a gallop or at a brisk pace.

Because being lost is also a direction.

Among many things we have something in common with horses: A tough skin that needs strong caresses. Maybe it’s just that.
– Marcos Morau

Dancer: Pamela Campos. Photo: Rahi Rezvani

**Zenon Zubyk ABOUT horses:**

“In Horses, we play the line between restriction and unmeasured freedom in the body. A delicate balance of responses through reactionary instinct and deliberate decision-making. The spaces between become the essence of the work, influencing both the phrasing of the movement and the creation of distinct, individualized worlds on the stage.

We communicate through subtle queues; the right hand pointing to the light, the left foot tracing an upwards arc, a click of the tongue. Each action motivated by an endless search, unified by the pursuit, though weary of wandering too far.”