Persoon die op zijn kop hangt met op de achtergrond een zwartwit projectie van lichamen

Scapino x Rotterdams Philharmonic Orchestra x Laurens Symphonic
Anima Obscura

In her first production for Scapino as artistic director, Nanine Linning explores the desire for immortality: from the occult practices of alchemists to experiments by biohackers.

The dancers are protagonists in the search for the one elixir that makes us invulnerable and enables us to escape our earthly limitations.

Anima Obscura is a sumptuous total artwork that fuses choreography, video performance, animation, holograms, costume design and live music. The digital technologies challenge the expressive possibilities of dance to create an innovative, sensual theatrical experience.

The performance will feature Johannes Brahms‘ Ein Deutsches Requiem, cut with Yannis Kyriakides’ Ein Schemen - a contemporary ‘re-composition’ for choir, harp and electronics. The music will be performed live by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Laurens Symphonic (choir) and live harp by Remy van Kesteren.

Season ‘24/’25 Anima Obscura will be performed exclusively at Nieuwe Luxor Theatre as part of O. festival for Opera. Music. Theatre.

The press on Anima Obscura

Groep mensen in witte kostuums met een arm omhoog

Credits

Concept, director and choreography
Nanine Linning

Video scenography
Claudia Rohrmoser

Music
Johannes Brahms „Ein Deutsches Requiem”
Yannis Kyriakides „Ein Schemen”, 

Performed live by 
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Laurens Symphonic, soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou, bariton James Atkinson and harpist Remy van Kesteren

Conductor
Giuseppe Mengoli

Costume design
Irina Shaposhnikova

Light design
Thomas C. Hase, Charlie Raschke (assistent)

Stage design
Nanine Linning, Christa Beland

Dramaturgy
Peggy Olislaegers

Choreographic assistance
Kyle Patrick

Music advice
Tido Visser

Philosopher
Jappe Groenendijk

Man met ingespannen gezicht die in de lucht springt
Grote groep mensen liggend op een toneel met op de achtergrond een projectie van vallende lichamen

Director and choreographer
Nanine Linning

A woman in a black dress standing in a living room.

Nanine Linning has gained international recognition over the past twenty years with her large multidisciplinary productions that combine dance and opera, design, fashion and visual art.

With her strong visual language and explosive dance, she reaches a wide audience, which also follows her faithfully in the Netherlands. Performances such as Bacon, Requiem and Zero have received international acclaim. Nanine Linning works closely with various internationally renowned artists such as Teodor Currentzis, Alexandros Tsolakis, Yuima Nakazato, Alexey Retinsky and Studio Drift. Her collaborations with Iris van Herpen and Bart Hess led to exhibitions in several museums.

Ein Deutsches Requiem

Brahms' requiem is not a death mass accompanying the deceased on their way to the afterlife, but music that offers comfort to the bereaved. Music for the living, then, with great melodic richness and emotional intensity. Yannis Kyriakides calls his recomposition ‘a dreamscape with fragments of Brahms appearing and disappearing in a disorderly manner’.

In the performance, Brahms‘ music represents earthly life; Kyriakides’ electronic sound world is like an echo that provides access to another time dimension and parallel reality on stage - this music allows the use of flashbacks and flashforwards accompanied by a different dance language.

danseres tegen een achtergrond van rode vlammen met achter haar een man op harp