Online programme book

Up & Coming Choreographers

Welcome

Emily Molnar

Dear friends,

We are delighted to welcome you to Up & Coming Choreographers, the final NDT 2 programme of the 2023-2024 season, and a close collaboration with our creative partner Korzo.
This season’s edition includes three world premieres by new voices to NDT. We are excited to introduce you to Sofia Nappi, Ella Rothschild and choreographic duo Kor’sia.

Sofia Nappi is the Artistic Director and co-founder of dance company KOMOCO based in Italy. Ella Rothschild is a choreographer and multidisciplinary artist. Since 2010, Rothschild has been creating her own works in collaboration with various artists from different disciplines. Antonio de Rosa and Mattia Russo lead the Madrid-based Kor’sia collective as directors and choreographers.

With Up & Coming Choreographers, NDT and Korzo aim to provide a fertile ground for the development of a new generation of makers by offering them a platform to explore and develop their creativity with the dancers of NDT 2.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our passionate collaborators: Sofia, Ella, Antonio, Mattia, Gemma, the team at Korzo, our NDT 2 dancers, and the entire NDT team. Your incredible hard work and unwavering commitment have made this performance possible.

To our audience, thank you for being here. We are excited to share this performance with you!

Emily Molnar
Artistic Director

Up & Coming Choreographers is a collaboration between NDT and Korzo.

Foto: Joris-Jan Bos

HARA

Sofia Nappi

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

MUSIC
Charlie Chaplin: Intro.
Søren Bødker Madsen: Siciliano.
Bachar Mar-Khalifé: Balcoon.
Henry Torgue & Serge Houppin: Amour-légende, Les racines du rêve.
Michael Wall : With me.

LIGHT
Alessandro Caso

COSTUMES
Adriano Prubbio

DECOR
Sofia Nappi

ASSISTANT TO THE CHOREOGRAPHER
Arthur Bouilliol

NDT ASSISTANT TO THE CHOREOGRAPHER
Lydia Bustinduy

WORLD PREMIERE
July 5, 2024, Korzo, The Hague

DURATION
20 minutes

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

DanCers

Maša Anić, Demi Bawon, Annakha Flos, Ricardo Hartley III, Nathanaël Plantier, Rebecca Speroni

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

Sofia Nappi

Choreographer

ABOUT THE CREATION

“It’s common to believe that we must live an extraordinary eternal life in order to have something to share.
The experience of our inner world is completely overlooked. If we focus on what’s going on inside ourselves — sensations, emotions, the patterns of our thoughts — a wealth of material can be found.
Our inner world is every bit as interesting, beautiful, and surprising as nature itself. It is, after all, born of nature.
When we go inside, we are processing what’s going on outside. We’re no longer separate. We’re connected. We are one.”
– “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” – Rick Rubin

The work takes inspiration from the encounter with the talented NDT 2 dancers and the exploration of our “belly” as our main engine for expression of our inner world, deepest sensations and storytelling through movement.
“HARA” is a Japanese terms that means “belly”.
It represents both the center of gravity of the human body but also the most important energetic center that bridges us between our inside and the outside world.
As humans we are rooted to the ground, but with our head looking at the sky.

**Rebecca Speroni about HARA:**

“Working with Sofia has been a very stimulating experience, where she encouraged us to dive deep in ourselves and find our inner creature.

Extremely exited to perform!!!”

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

**Ricardo Hartley III about HARA:**

“An imaginative playground based in texture, wonder, playfulness, & sensation is how I would describe the joy of creating with Sofia. There is an openness that has created a form so constant, yet so intertwined within the fabric of our ever-changing dynamic qualities, as movers and creators. Sofia offers us a multitude of possibilities to enter her world & movement language that somehow seamlessly connects each of us to something that has been innate since birth.

The core.
The belly.
The non-analytical mind.
The pleasure of moving.
The unique perspectives.

All these ideas fall in place to create the whimsical & emotional playground of HARA.”

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

THIS SOLUTION

Ella Rothschild

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

MUSIC
New composition by Marihiko Hara

LIGHT
Yuka Hisamatsu

DECOR & COSTUMES
NDT

ASSISTANT TO THE CHOREOGRAPHER
Rena Narumi

WORLD PREMIERE
July 5, 2024, Korzo The Hague

DURATION
22 minutes

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

DANCERS

Nathaniel Belnavis-Wright, Nicky Daniels, Casper Mott, Ruth Lee, Omani Ormskirk

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

Ella Rothschild

Choreographer

ABOUT THE CREATION

In a world where lives intertwine with the echoes of the past, they live among objects they inherited from those who came before them. These individuals yearn for unity, control, order, compassion, and empathy, each striving for something solid and clear to hold on to. Despite their efforts, loss and tragedy persistently knock on their door. They flee from a prophecy that inevitably finds them, continuing their struggle until dissolution reaches them. Yet, in this disassembly, they find a new togetherness, that brings different states and positions of power.

As they merge with the objects around them, their personalities and traits features in these inherited items. Each object, whether a carpet, table, chair, or lamp, carries a sentiment, a mission, and a purpose. Chaos occasionally disrupts their space, mirroring the emotional turmoil of our individuals. Moving backwards through the story, the objects come together to form a framework for our narrative, as the group striving to preserve something familiar at all costs, regardless of its functionality.

**Ruth Lee about THIS SOLUTION:**

“It’s been a pleasure working with Ella. She created an atmosphere of such patience and virtue, a true process to discover the many layers and skins we are as individuals.

A reminder that I’m responsible for my own existence; to fully embody my thoughts and capabilities that make who I am. Through research and finding these endless possibilities with a lifeless invention brought forth an outlook of how little access I’ve allowed of myself. Emotionally fragile I became to unlock these structures of belief that were only the curation of my own limitations.

I’ve admired this setting of intimacy and continue to cherish these moments of closeness at a time of departure. I’m happy to live on this creation and share what’s more than any presentation, but a true expression.”

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

**Omani Ormskirk about THIS SOLUTION:**

“THIS SOLUTION in my opinion accurately depicts the days we live in. As it moves from abstraction to a more finite world you get to follow certain characters on their journey though the piece as they try to create order. I believe it comments on our behavior as humans nowadays. Personally, I needed some time to put two and two together to see what we were really making, but this is also the beauty of creation. I am very happy to have been part of this creation and am committed to making it the best it can be.

This work will be last I get to perform as an NDT2 dancer and it is a wonderful testimony to my time here. Both the process and the piece took me on a true journey of discovery, similar to my time in the junior company, only highly condensed as it was created over the course of four weeks. The process was not always comfortable but Ella consistently left room for play and her levity always blew life into the work. I am very excited to bring this piece to the stage and can only hope the audience appreciates our interpretation of these ideas.”

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

Dreamers

KOR'SIA

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

CONCEPT, DIRECTION, SCENOGRAPHY en COSTUMES
Mattia Russo and Antonio de Rosa/KOR’SIA

CHOREOGRAPHY
Antonio de Rosa and Mattia Russo in collaboration with the performers

PERFORMERS
5 dancers and a bicycle

DRAMATURGY
Agnès López-Río

MUSIC
New composition by Alejandro Da Rocha

LIGHT
Yuka Hisamatsu

NDT ASSISTANT TO THE CHOREOGRAPHER
Ander Zabala

WORLD PREMIERE
July 5, 2024, Korzo Den Haag

DURATION
26 minutes

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

DANCERS

Viola Busi, Conner Chew, Gabriele Rolle, Nova Valkenhoff, Samuel van der Veer

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

Kor'sia

Choreographers

ABOUT THE CREATION

In any corner, where the freshly sown wheat still dances in the wind and the sun bids farewell in a warm embrace on any spring afternoon, a place in the world can be found. Where, like seeds in fertile soil, it is possible to cultivate dreams and aspirations, to experience paradoxes and contradictions and thus begin the crossing. An uncertain journey back and forth, forward and backward, that builds a future that is still invisible to our eyes.

With Dreamers, Mattia Russo and Antonio de Rosa/KOR’SIA offers us an ode to youth, a hymn to the ephemeral beauty of life.

Our only chance to transform the path towards a future of peace and fraternity.

**Gabriele Rolle about Dreamers:**

“With Dreamers we want to crystallize youth and its endless sense of wonder, its questions and desires, its joys and challenges.

We do so by creating a universe in which the present moment is stretched beyond its limits, and in which past and future become the physical boundaries of space.

Movement becomes a means of discovery, questioning our surroundings and experiencing things like for the first time.

This piece feels to me like a real journey, both physically and emotionally. It is a journey we’ve all embarked on at some point in our lives, guided by our senses, our perception and our intuition.

Creating this piece has been an absolute pleasure. I am extremely grateful for the people I’m sharing this world with – my colleagues, who inspire me every day with their sheer beauty, and Antonio and Mattia, who so graciously push us to dare, to feel, and to dream.

I feel the heat of a summer night on my skin. The wind gently moves my hair as I’m biking through a golden wheat field. Its smell fills my nostrils. Five beautiful stars shine in night sky.”

Photo: Joris-Jan Bos

**Samuel van der Veer about Dreamers:**

“As I am leaving the company, and I am reflecting on my time here; I think firstly of all the incredible, inspirational people that I have met and the lasting impact they have made on me. I think ‘Dreamers’ mirrors that journey on a small scale: it emphasizes that the connections and interactions we make with people are the most important and impactful thing we can do.

All choreographic material is first of all based on connection and interaction; with each other, with the music, with the space, with the future, the past and even with the bike. We imagine what the field we find ourselves in smells like, what the temperature of the wind would be and what it would be like when nighttime falls and we watch the stars together…

Antonio & Mattia are such wonderful and open humans and they themselves are natural masters at connecting with others. They continue to encourage us to find where else in the piece interaction can exist. Which I in turn, hope to take with me far beyond the wheat field.

I am so happy and grateful to have added Antonio, Mattia and Agnès to the list of inspirational (and hilarious) people that I met during this chapter of my life. Thank you for this blessing of a process.

Non mi dimenticherò mai la smella di campo.”