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
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Volkskrant
"You won't be bored for a single moment during the large-scale, overwhelming dance opera Anima Obscura." -
NRC
''Nanine Linning, the new artistic director of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, pulls out all the stops in Anima Obscura.'' -
Annette Embrechts
NPO Klassiek (National radio)
"The greatest spectacle I have seen in recent months. One hundred minutes, but I was not bored for a single one." -
Michael Hasted
ArtsTalk Magazine
"Anima Obscura is one of the biggest and most ambitious pieces I have seen from Scapino and the new director has set out her stall for a future that bodes well." -
Theaterparadijs
''Nanine Linning’s debut production sparks the imagination, touches all your senses and emotions, in a poetic exploration of the desire for immortality.'' -
Theaterkrant
''Anima Obscura is an apocalyptic gesamtkunstwerk, a poetic universe you’re invited to get lost in. '' -
Vandaag en Morgen
''Fascinating subject matter, which Anima Obscura transforms into a beautifully episodic, danced narrative that—true to a true gesamtkunstwerk—reveals different aspects of the whole and of its outstanding performers.
'' -
Die Glocke ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Set in motion and accompanied by music and dance, a total work of art has emerged that evokes strong emotions which captivated the audience mercilessly.” -
Westfalen Blatt
“Anima Obscura” is a fantastic and beautiful, but also disturbing piece, which continues to captivate you with steady tension. But also with the perfect interaction of dance and video animation, music and light as well as stage design and costumes.”
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
Director and choreographer Nanine Linning
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.
