30 appearances out of darkness
With 30 appearances out of darkness, Arno Schuitemaker creates an experience where a new dimension opens from the dark. What is dark can be threatening, literally but certainly metaphorically too. A change of perspective can offer a way out, regardless of which crisis. In this evocative performance, darkness, as ominous as it can be, gradually transforms into a place of protection, hope, and conquest.
Run time 70 minutes
Genre dance
Language Language no problem
Warning: This performance contains flashes of light.
Mesmerizing, mysterious, hypnotizing
Arno Schuitemaker: “Maybe it is proof that I am getting older, but I feel that I am less and less resisting the vulnerability of life. When I was reading Derek Jarman’s book « Chroma » some of his words strongly resonated with me: “Is black hopeless? Doesn’t every dark thundercloud have a silver lining? In black lies the possibility of hope”. It led me to wanting to reflect on the significance of this paradox, and how it can shape and define us for the better. For example, why do we sometimes fear what we desire most? It is a question I can’t let go off. I want to fear less. Maybe we can find enlightenment by disappearing in darkness, if only to be able to come out on the other side.”
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Barely lit yet impressive images emerge in a pitch-dark space, sometimes on the threshold of perception. Mesmerizing, mysterious, hypnotizing. Assumptions we make of what we see are being challenged, while a group of performers moves across the stage. Not everyone is visible at the same time, but their presence is always felt in a world that has its own kind of gravity and absorbs each and every one.
“Hopefulness is risky, since after all it is a form of trust, trust in the unknown and possible.” - Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit
In the press
De Volkskrant
"Between black velvet pillars the contours of naked bodies emerge one by one. (...) In this all-absorbing game of disappearing and appearing, Schuitemaker gradually creates a space for a redeeming finale. It is an impressive feeling to realize that afterward your head is glowing."
Scenes
"In pitch darkness you look to emerging then fading dancers, barely lit yet fully present, sometimes only by a silver outline of their bodies (…) Must-see performance of the year."
About Arno Schuitemaker
Arno Schuitemaker creates works one has to experience. Each time, his performances make an overwhelming impression. He has won several awards with his work, one of them being the “Zwaan”, the most important dance prize in The Netherlands for The Way You Sound Tonight as the most impressive dance production. His contemporary and radical performances immerse the audience, each in their unique way. It makes him one of the most intriguing performance artists of the moment.
The performances by Arno Schuitemaker receive praise for the inventive forms that he creates to express and give meaning to universal themes. Rooted in the pages of his diary, they transform into hyperphysical and embodied meditations on life and the way we (can) engage with the world. Call it dance, performance, or an experience, it is a class of its own. His unique work is presented at renowned venues and festivals in over 25 countries.
Credits
Creation Arno Schuitemaker
Performers Ivan Ugrin, Ahmed El Gendy, Emilia Saavedra, Frederik Kaijser, Rex Collins, Clotilde Cappelletti, Jim Buskens en Paolo Yao
Dramaturgy Guy Cools
Music Aart Strootman
Light design Jean Kalman
Scenography Jean Kalman, Arno Schuitemaker
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30 appearances out of darkness is a production of SHARP/ArnoSchuitemaker in coproduction with La Place de la Danse – Centre de Développement Chorégraphique National / Toulouse-Occitanie en POLE-SUD - Centre de Développement Chorégraphique National Strasbourg. Supported by Fonds Podiumkunsten, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Fonds 21 and Zabawas. Many thanks to Holland Festival.
