An absurdist satire and search for hope in dark times. Origin is created by three emerging avant-garde dance makers with a socially critical perspective in their work. After winning the world's biggest dance award, Sarah Baltzinger & Isaiah Wilson and Olivia Court Mesa are now making two world premieres at Scapino. Both dance pieces can be seen in one program with a connecting dance film curated by Cinedans film festival around the same theme.
In the piece GOATS by French/Luxembourgian duo Sarah Baltzinger & Isaiah Wilson, the main character is immersed in a hallucinatory world full of paranoia and delusion. Looking through an absurd lens, the viewer is invited to join the dancers in finding a way between reality and illusion. GOATS is an imaginative satire on contemporary times and the psychology of the masses.
In The Colors of Darkness, Chilean-Israeli Olivia Court Mesa explores the physical and psychological response to tragedy and chaos. She reflects on collective trauma, survival and the path from darkness to color. With her raw and intuitive style, she makes a poignant statement of human resilience and hope.
Their Origin in The Netherlands by Scapino
For Scapino's talent development programme Origin, artistic director Nanine Linning invites promising talent. Under her artistic direction, they will for the first time create a programme for the major theatres that will be presented throughout the Netherlands.
Choreographers
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Sarah Baltzinger & Isaiah Wilson
Self-made artist, dancer and choreographer Sarah Baltzinger and experimental artist Isaiah Wilson formed an exciting choreographic team since 2022 that has already directed several projects together and won awards, including the RIDCC XL Production Award in 2023. -
Olivia Court Mesa
Chilean-Israeli choreographer, dancer, teacher and researcher Olivia Court Mesa has devoted her life to the arts for 25 years. In her work, she challenges traditional gender roles and explores how one body can contain both male and female power.
Credits
Artistic direction
Nanine Linning
Choreography
Sarah Baltzinger & Isaiah Wilson (GOATS)
Olivia Court Mesa (The Colors of Darkness)
Dancers
View our tableau
Light design
Jasper Nijholt
Costume design
Petra Finke
A collaboration with
Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition
Cinedans
RIDCC
Both Baltzinger/Wilson and Court Mesa received the XL Production Award, the world's largest dance prize awarded by Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition (RIDCC) and produced by Scapino. As a partner of the first hour of this unique choreography competition, Scapino is a springboard for choreographic talent worldwide.
RIDCC was founded by two leading dancers at Scapino, Maya Roest and Mischa van Leeuwen. The platform has attracted many internationally emerging dance makers to Rotterdam since 2018.
Cinedans
As a bridge between the two world premieres, we are collaborating with Cinedans and forging dramaturgical lines with a number of short dance films, curated by Cinedans, around the same theme.
Cinedans is the central venue in Amsterdam, and the only organization in the Netherlands, that has focused entirely on dance film since 2003, bringing together presentation, development and international distribution of the genre.
