Nederlandse Dansdagen Gala

Join dancers, choreographers, nominees and audience in celebrating the richness of Dutch dance

During the Nederlandse Dansdagen Gala, our country's most important dance awards are presented. The Innovation Award Nederlandse Dansdagen Maastricht gives a boost to Dutch dance by supporting up-and-coming talent. And with the prestigious Swans of the VSCD, we celebrate the top achievements within Dutch dance.

This festive opening night will be framed by special performances by nominees, former award winners, leading creators, new talent and surprising guests. The Gala will be presented by Anna Drijver.

Het Nationale Ballet | Krzysztof Pastor
Toccata

In Toccata, Pastor takes classical ballet technique as his starting point and then challenges the five dancers to move in a more contemporary way, demonstrating the range of talent of classically trained dancers. The result is an athletic ballet of just six-and-a-half minutes, in which solos, duets and group parts alternate.

Scapino Ballet Rotterdam | Ed Wubbe
C’est Toi

C'est toi is a catchy duet about thoughtless love, touching and funny at the same time. Scapino choreographer Ed Wubbe sets the duet in the same theatrical and alienating atmosphere as his dance piece Le Chat Noir. Inspired by French variety, in it he showed the shine of theatre life but also the hidden loneliness and vulnerability. C'est toi exudes the same atmosphere. Intimate emotions and small movements are magnified and accentuated in an almost clownish way.

Maciej Kuzminski
Every Minute Motherland

Every Minute Motherland explores the effects of trauma, exile and alienation against the backdrop of larger themes of war, identity and the immutable forces of history and geography. With the constant daily backdrop of television and social media where war plays out in numbing repetition, the play refocuses our attention on the bodies of women, whose experiences are unleashed on stage, transcribed in movement and time and reaching for the spirit of ritual and myth.

The performance of "Every Minute Motherland" is organized by Nederlandse Dansdagen and Macej Kuzminński Company in partnership with Ukrainian Institute.



Zino Schat
Exit Sign

Exit Sign is a mirror of our classical pyramid-shaped hierarchy, with men doing everything they can to climb even higher. The intentions may have been good in the beginning, but get sullied by the self-centred drive to reach the top. Fractal's choreographer and artistic director Zino Schat drew inspiration for Exit Sign from his experiences from the battle scene and current conflicts in the world.

Danstheater AYA | Wies Bloemen
Hoop (12+) (fragment)

Hoop is an interactive, hopeful, cheeky performance by Dance Theatre AYA for young audiences. A performance where you can shape your own future, but then you have to take action.