WAXES by Sarah Baltzinger & Isaiah Wilson
“WAXES” by Sarah Baltzinger & Isaiah Wilson (Scapino Ballet Rotterdam) has been nominated for the Zwaan Award for Most Impressive Dance Production of 2026
Jury about the nomination
With WAXES, Sarah Baltzinger and Isaiah Wilson present a poignant and uncompromising work that, featuring an all-female cast, explores the body as it deviates from the male norm. The dancers showcase a powerful movement vocabulary that pushes physical and theatrical boundaries and challenges social norms. The eerily beautiful costumes, featuring wax torsos, reinforce this effect.
With raw energy and a powerful lighting and sound design, an alienating world is created in which horror, humor, and acrobatics converge. WAXES stands out as a multi-layered and compelling total work of art.
About Sarah Baltzinger & Isaiah Wilson
Self-taught artist, dancer, and choreographer Sarah Baltzinger and experimental artist Isaiah Wilson have formed an exciting choreographic duo since 2022; together, they have directed several projects and won awards, including the RIDCC XL Production Award in 2023.
Sarah has worked as a performer for choreographers such as Bernard Baumgarten, Peter Mika, Helder Seabra, and Wayne Parsons. Since 2016, she has been developing her own choreographic work, in which she explores the influence of our environment on identity. Themes such as social alienation, the digital revolution, and the balance between the individual and the collective are central to her work.
Isaiah studied dance at Codarts Rotterdam and worked at ICK Amsterdam and the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. As an interdisciplinary artist, he combines dance with scientific innovation. His work reflects on the complexity and rawness of nature and explores survival instincts, harmony, and detachment from the material world.
Together, Baltzinger and Wilson create groundbreaking performances that address social and existential themes.
“This poignant, uncompromising work explores perceptions of the body outside the male norm. Using a powerful movement vocabulary, the creators and their cast push the boundaries of both the physical and the theatrical. Horrifically beautiful, with raw energy, horror, and humor, this performance stands out as a layered and urgent total work of art: WAXES.”