Ed Wubbe met op de achtergrond het standbeeld stad zonder hart van Zadkine (foto genomen door Bryndis Brynjolfsdottir)

Ed Wubbe

Ed Wubbe is one of the most versatile Dutch choreographers and has been a key figure in the Dutch dance world for many years. Under his 26 year leadership, Scapino has evolved into a daring, experimental, contemporary company and one of the taste-makers of Dutch dance.

Wubbe has a unique talent for uniting different worlds and creating fluid transitions. With his large thematic productions to live music he has created his own unique genre, a mix of art and artistic entertainment with compelling themes, melding dance, music and other disciplines like circus and opera.

In doing so Wubbe pushes the boundaries of dance, creating a theatrical world empowered with a raw, vivid and contemporary relevance. With an eye for new talent – which he features prominently in the company – Wubbe searches for new ways to enrich dance, and share it with a broad audience. But without ever sacrificing the superb quality of his work.

Curriculum Vitae

Nationality
Dutch

With Scapino since
1992

Choreographies
o.a. Kathleen, Nico, Romeo & Julia, Perfect Skin, Orfeo Shows, The Green, Manyfacts, Songs for Drella (met Marco Goecke), Pearl, Le Chat Noir, The Great Bean, Pas de Deux, TING!, Scala, All hands on deck, Casablanca, Oscar

Awards and honors
- Order of Merit - Dansersfonds'79 (2013)
- Golden Swan (2017)
- Knight in the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (2017)

Een vrouw met rode lippenstift wordt innig omhelst door een man. Samen worden ze uitgelicht in het donker door een spotlight.

More than sixty ballets

Wubbe has created more than sixty ballets for Scapino, including a large number of full-length productions. Some of his successful productions are Kathleen, Romeo & Julia, Nico (special music by John Cale), Holland, The Great Bean, Le Chat Noir, Pas de Deux (live music by pianist Michiel Borstlap), the baroque productions Pearl and Scala ( both with live music from Combattimento) and All hands on deck in collaboration with Släpstick (formerly Wëreldbänd). In 2016, in honor of Scapino's 70th anniversary, Wubbe created TING!, Scapino's largest production ever, in collaboration with the Dutch band NITS and circus artists. A 70-minute documentary - De Wereld van Wubbe - was broadcast on Dutch television in March 2017.

From 2004 to 2016, Wubbe was also Artistic Director of the International Competition for Choreographers in Hanover. In 2015, Ed Wubbe and Scapino collaborated on the international opera ballet project Les Fêtes Vénitiénnes, directed by opera director Robert Carsen, with performances in Paris and New York.

Awards and honours

In 2017 Ed Wubbe received the Dutch dance award ‘Golden Swan’ for his significant contribution to Dutch dance. In the same year he was knighted in the Order of the Dutch Lion, also for his contribution to the development of Dutch modern dance. In 2013 he was presented the ‘Award of merit’ by the Dutch Dansersfonds'79, founded by former dancers Han Ebbelaar and Alexandra Radius.

Choreographies for Scapino

  • Casablanca

    Casablanca

    Casablanca is a visual performance about passion, freedom and desire for a better world.
  • Vrouw in een zwart korset met blote armen en een grote gouden tooi op het hoofd in de vorm van de manen van een paard. Zij heeft haar armen sierlijk geheven alsof zij loopt. De achtergrond is goud met een geverfde cirkel.

    Oscar

    Carré en Scapino Ballet presenteren: Oscar, een hommage aan Oscar Carré met dans, theater, circus én live muziek van Blaudzun. Exclusief te zien in Carré.
  • Links een pratende man met de handen op borsthoogte, rechts 3 dansers

    Dancing and the brain

    A unique evening with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam and neuropsychologist Erik Scherder about the impressive positive effects of dance on the brain.
  • Casablanca

    Duplicate of Casablanca

    Casablanca is a visual performance about passion, freedom and desire for a better world.
  • Leslie Humbert in The Great Bean

    The Great Bean

    Circus, illusionism, variety and dance: The Great Bean takes place in the atmosphere of the roaring twenties, the emergence of jazz, Hollywood and vaudeville.
  • Een leeg theater met op het podium 2 trompettisten

    Music in Motion

    The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam have joined forces for a new video project: Music in motion.
  • Opera Melancholica

    Opera Melancholica

    A portrait of melancholiac Roderick Usher and his twin sister Madeline, rendered by both a soprano and a female dancer. Showing all corners of the human mind.
  • Pearl

    Pearl

    World class dance, stunning costumes and mesmerising music by composers like Vivaldi.
  • Wit geschminkt persoon met zijn vingers om zijn snor

    Holland & Le Chat Noir

    The superb, theatrical dance of this captivating diptych transports audiences to the Golden Age and the Paris Revue. Two iconic pieces by choreographer Ed Wubbe in one program.
  • Zes personen in maritieme kleding staand in een stalen raam als van een schip

    All Hands on Deck

    Scapino and Släpstick (formerly know as Wëreldbänd) bring out the best in each other with superb combinations of dance, physical comedy, slapstick, music and theatre.
  • Twee dansers in intiem duet

    Pas de Deux

    Pas de Deux is a pure music and dance experience. Crystal clear piano by Michiel Borstlap with the eye-catching choreographies of Ed Wubbe, danced by twelve dancers of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
  • twools_headerweb.jpg

    TWOOLS 18

    TWOOLS 18 appears to be the last in the series. It is a worthy finale with world premieres by choreographers Ryan Djojokarso, Joeri Dubbe and Maciej Kuzminski.
  • TING! | choreografie Ed Wubbe (foto Eric Fecken)

    TING!

    Dance, music and circus come together on and above a rotating arena to create an enchanting spectacle.
  • TING! duet Bonnie en Mischa

    TING!

    Dance, music and circus come together on and above a rotating arena to create an enchanting spectacle.
  • TWOOLS 17

    TWOOLS 17

    Under the motto "More dance does not fit in" Scapino Ballet Rotterdam presents TWOOLS17. In 75 minutes 22 dancers dance in 8 pieces by 7 choreographers.
  • twools_16_chor_ed_wubbe_8097_foto_hans_gerritsen.jpg

    TWOOLS 16

    Six world premiers from choreographers like Marcos Morau, Itamar Serussi en Ed Wubbe. Met live muziek van Michiel Borstlap and Katharina Gross.
  • Pearl

    Pearl

    World class dance, stunning costumes and mesmerising music by composers like Vivaldi.
  • Leslie Humbert in The Great Bean

    The Great Bean

    Circus, illusionism, variety and dance: the The Great Bean takes place in the atmosphere of the roaring twenties, the emergence of jazz, Hollywood and vaudeville on Broadway with new dance styles like charleston and tap dance.
  • twools_15 nagasaki_met_leslie_humbert_close_-_foto_hans_gerritsen_4268.jpg

    TWOOLS 15

    TWOOLS celebrates its fifteenth edition with, according to the flyer, "a kaleidoscopic dance-zap evening in which dancers, technicians ánd spectators have to move fast."
  • Twee personen met hun gezichten dicht bij elkaar

    TWOOLS 14

    TWOOLS 14 is a full edition with no fewer than ten titles by Felix Landerer, Voortman & De Jonge, Mischa van Leeuwen, Jan Kooijman and Ed Wubbe, among others.
  • Persoon liggend op de grond en steunend op de elleboog met een been gestrekt omhoog

    TWOOLS 13

    A special collaboration of Ed Wubbe and Ellen te Damme, a Firebird by Marco Goecke and pieces by Min Li, Felix Landerer, Heidi Vierthaler and Alessandro Perreira.
  • Zes danseressen in lange oranje jurken

    TWOOLS at the opera

    The most beautiful music from various operas, five choreographers, all the Scapino dancers, a beautiful décor and a planned murder of the dance.
  • Danser uitgelicht op een donker podium, op de knieen en buigend naar achteren

    TWOOLS 11

    Seven choreographers are taking part in the 11th edition of TWOOLS: Marina Mascarell Martinez, Jérôme Delbey, Thom Stuart, Lucas Jervies, Loïc Perela, Georg Reischl and Ed Wubbe.
  • Twee dansers in duet, de rechter begeleid de linker die een draai maakt

    TWOOLS INTERNAT10NAL

    It is a celebration because TWOOLS is turning ten. So far, the format has offered a stage to nearly forty choreographers, many of them young, most of them working freelance in the Netherlands.
  • Zes dansers met witte puffy jurken en een arm boven zich uitgestrekt

    TWOOLS 8

    The 8th edition of TWOOLS does without the series of short, connecting group pieces that artistic director Ed Wubbe usually creates for Scapino's season finale.
  • Danser met rode kleding armen en benen als een vliegtuig

    TWOOLS 7

    Anything is possible in TWOOLS. And the choreographers invited by Ed Wubbe, ranging from up-and-coming talent from the Scapino ranks to more established international choreographers, take this to heart.
  • Vrouw diep door haar been gebogen met armen voor zich in lichtgrije trui

    TWOOLS 6

    The eleven very different dance pieces collected in one programme for TWOOLS 6 reflect the desire to give space to risk and to the full breadth of the dance field.
  • Dansers in diverse posities in Feyenoord voetbalshirts

    TWOOLS 5

    "A pleasant fever reigns in our studios when, in just a few weeks, the annual edition of TWOOLS is made with all thirty dancers," Ed Wubbe recalls.
  • Twee dansers in duet met vrouw die haar been heeft uitgestrekt omhoog

    TWOOLS 4

    For TWOOLS 4, Ed Wubbe has invited a mix of brand new and more established dance makers. By interweaving their work, a unique, festival-like evening in the theatre is created.
  • Vier dansers in verschillende posities op het podium

    TWOOLS 3

    TWOOLS 3 is the second edition of TWOOLS in the calendar year 2000 and the third in a year's time. The audience is introduced to first choreographies by Ruby Edelman and Georg Reischl.
  • Zwarte ruimte gevuld met rook, een danseres rechts staand op spitzen en een breakdancer daarnaast op de vloer

    TWOOLS 2

    The second TWOOLS follows shortly after the first, with space on the main stage for five individual dance makers, a choreographer duo and a hip-hop crew.
  • Intiem duet van twee dansers

    TWOOLS 1

    In its first season in the new millennium, Scapino presents a new concept; TWOOLS. No theme, no story, but a blistering 75-minute non-stop dance collage.