Delay the Sadness
Delay the Sadness invites us into a world of feelings: sensations of sorrow, beauty and love at the same time, and the strength to keep moving, even in the midst of loss.
What happens when dance emerges from loss? Choreographer Sharon Eyal explores how grief, love and memory can be transformed into movement and how it can express the sense of life, the continuity and its vitality. She dedicates this work to her mother Adina – the first time Eyal has dedicated such a personal performance to one specific person.
Festival Julidans
Programme section Julidans On Stage
Dutch premiere
Location Internationaal Theater Amsterdam
Venue Rabozaal
Run time 55 minutes
Genre Dance
Language Language no problem
Delay the Sadness
Yet the performance reaches beyond a single tale. It is an ode to all mothers, to the life they pass on and to what remains. Sadness and joy coexist. Grief is not an endpoint, but an attempt to postpone the pain and make room for the beautiful elements of life that continues.
Between eight dancers on stage, a physical journey through life unfolds, from youth to old age, in which the atmosphere gradually grows darker and more intense. The language of movement is instantly recognisable: slightly bent knees, a torso leaning forward, bodies condensing into a single pulsating whole.
-|-Eyal’s style is outspoken and delicate with a reference to classical ballet which can be seen as a movement method in which dance arises from emotion and imagination. She combines the precision of academic dance and the energy of visceral movements. In doing so, she develops a new vocabulary of ballet – in the tradition of innovators such as William Forsythe and George Balanchine, on whose innovative spirit she builds. In her hands, ballet remains in constant motion: recognisable, yet ever-shifting.
The specially composed music by Josef Laimon, together with lighting, costumes and even scent, creates a sensory environment that supports and deepens the dance.
Continuation of life after death
Continuation of sadness and purity
Continuation of mother
Emotions
Memories
I remember, recall, imagine, dream
Dancing… breathing… suffocating… stopping…
- Sharon Eyal
Sharon Eyal
Sharon Eyal is a choreographer and former dancer. She made her international breakthrough with the Batsheva Dance Company and developed a distinctive style: intensely physical, hypnotic and sensory. Since 2013, she has co-directed the company S-E-D (formerly L-E-V) with Gai Behar, touring major theatres and festivals worldwide. Her choreographies combine powerful bodies with electronic music and a futuristic aesthetic. The result is a world of dance that is at once raw, sensual and irresistible.
Credits
Choreography Sharon Eyal
Co‑creator Gai Behar
Original music Josef Laimon
Lighting design Alon Cohen
Costume design Sharon Eyal, Gai Behar in collaboration with Noa Eyal Behar
3D print designer By Serge H
Costume production Bas et Hauts Atelier, Paris
Makeup design & general styling Noa Eyal Behar
Dancers Darren Devaney, Juan Gil, Alice Godfrey, Johnny McMillan, Keren Lurie Pardes, Nitzan Ressler, Héloïse Jocqueviel, Gregory Lau
Rehearsal director Clyde Emmanuel Archer
-|-Co‑producers Ruhrtriennale 2025 | Festival der Künste (Germany), La Villette – Paris, Chaillot – théâtre national de la danse (Paris), TorinoDanza (Italy), Orsolina 28 Art Foundation (Italy), Sadler’s Wells – London, Baku International Arts Festival, Région Île‑de‑France, Département de Seine‑et‑Marne, Montpellier Danse Season 2025/2026, MART Foundation – New York, Julidans – Amsterdam, Festspielhaus St. Pölten (Austria), Dampfzentrale Bern (Switzerland), Théâtre Sénart – Scène nationale, Les Nuits de Fourvière – Lyon
