Dancers NDT 1 & S-E-D

Jury about the nomination

"As an exception, the jury nominates an ensemble for the most impressive dance performance. The 28-member dance group, composed of NDT 1 plus the dancers of the French company S-E-D, delivers an impressive, mind-boggling collective performance with this show. In this technically challenging dance work, the large group maintains an almost unearthly connection with each other. With their energy pulsating through the large hall, these tense, melancholic creatures take their audience on a strange dystopian journey. The group impressively shifts the definition of the word “teamwork” to an almost telepathic form of coexistence in a world that has been thrown off balance.''

About the Nederlands Dans Theater

Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) is one of the world's leading contemporary dance companies. Based in The Hague, the company performs for an international audience of 150,000 visitors in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Since its foundation in 1959 by Benjamin Harkarvy, Aart Verstegen and Carel Birnie, in collaboration with eighteen dancers from the Dutch National Ballet (then called the Nederlands Ballet), NDT has sought to forge its own path in the field of modern dance. Glen Tetley and Hans van Manen have left a prominent avant-garde mark on the artistic face of NDT. Their non-conformist, progressive productions have put the company on the map nationally and internationally.

Since then, the top company has built up a rich repertoire of over 600 ballets by master choreographers Jiří Kylián and Hans van Manen, Sol León & Paul Lightfoot, Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke, Johan Inger, Medhi Walerski, Ohad Naharin, Alexander Ekman, Gabriela Carrizo, Franck Chartier, Hofesh Shechter, Edward Clug and Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, and many others.

The first company, NDT 1, consists of 28 phenomenal dancers from all corners of the globe, aged between 23 and 40. The dancers are world-renowned for their theatricality, stunning technique and unparalleled expression.

About S-E-D

Sharon Eyal was born in Jerusalem and lives in France. In 2005, Eyal began collaborating with Gai Behar on her creations, their company and various projects.

In 2009, Eyal began creating pieces for other dance companies around the world. In 2013, Eyal and Gai Behar founded S-E-D. Since August 2022, S-E-D has been a registered French non-profit association, operating in France.

S-E-D's repertoire consists of five creations. In the 12 years since S-E-D was founded, the company has given more than 200 performances, some in the most exclusive venues and at festivals around the world, such as: The Joyce Theatre – NYC; Jacob's Pillow; Sadler's Wells – London, UK; the Montpellier Danse Festival – France; Julidans – Amsterdam.

Fotography: Rahi Rezvani