GINKGO

The title of Beutler's new show derived from the ginkgo, a Japanese nut tree that can now also be found in many places in the Netherlands. A symbol of primeval strength – at the time, the ginkgo even withstood the nuclear explosion in Hiroshima.

After the great success of 8: METAMORPHOSIS at Julidans 2019 (VSCD-Mimeprijs, Music Theatre Now prize, Swan nomination for best dance production), Beutler once again creates a dance opera about the end of the world as we know it. GINKGO will be a total musical experience in which regular composer Gary Shepherd mixes his compositions with excerpts from Mozart's Requiem and Le Cygne by Camille Saint-Saëns. The theremin, an electronic musical instrument that is played by varying the distance between the hands and two antennas, plays a central role. Master of ceremony is thereminist Dorit Chrysler, assisted by Consensus Vocalis, a choir with no fewer than twelve singers.
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GINKGO or: 56 million years ago there were palm trees on the North Pole is the first part of the Rituals of Transformation trilogy about saying goodbye to a familiar world. This first part is a confrontational total experience in which man is drowning in his own rubbish. Beutler is a master at shaping a collective process of change, mourning, letting go, and release. If we can face up to the inevitability of change, space will be created for new perspectives. Meanwhile, Beutler does not allow her viewers to wallow in apocalyptic visions; her work is always about transformation and hope. GINKGO is a dance performance and a contemporary opera about embracing change, an exercise on the way to a possible future. ‘Together we can transform the world,’ Beutler says. We can change if we want to and dare to.

PODCAST: Nicole Beutler on the role of art in the climate transition

concept, direction and choreography Nicole Beutler
created with the performers Melyn Chow, Hillary Blake Firestone, Felix Schellekens, Cesirhe Sedney, Marjolein Vogels
music Gary Shepherd, W.A. Mozart, Camille Saint-Saens
theremin + performance Dorit Chrysler
choir Elma Dekker, Alice van de Geest, Kazue Goto, Kitty Lai, Carmen de Haan, Sarah van Lieshout, Ingrid van Ree, Felis Jago Larham, Aart Schutte, Leo de Visser, Bas Cornelissen, Sam Eggenhuizen, Hidde Kleikamp
dramaturgy Igor Dobričić
scenography Marloes & Wikke
lighting design Minna Tiikkainen
costumes Jessica Helbach
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repetitor João Dinis Pinho
assistant director (intern) Caterina Ferreira de Silva
understudy Alida Bergakker
sound technician Valentijn Berkhout
light technician Prem Scholte Albers
set HP Hulscher
production Nicole Beutler Projects
coproduction Consensus Vocalis, O. Festival for Opera. Music. Theatre.
choir rehearsal Béni Csillag
with support from Julidans, ITA, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Grand Theatre Groningen
made possible by Fonds Podiumkunsten, Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, Fast Forward
tourplanning & acquisition Theaterzaken via Rudolphi
with special thanks to Goethe-Instituut Amsterdam, Rob Polmann, Christian Guerematchi, Imre Ploeg (NKK Next), Guy Cools (Boek Performing Lamenting)