SCALA
Het Nationale Ballet | NDT | Vlad & Veronika | Compagnie Tiuri | Let It Happen

Let It Happen
Creation Outside The Lines

Three young women bring a story to life in which history, healing and identity converge. Drawing on their Congolese roots and Dutch background, they build a bridge between generations: from the raw energy of James Brown to the spiritual power of Aretha Franklin and the deep soul of Erykah Badu. Their movements carry the echoes of the diaspora, rhythms that are passed down, stories that endure, and a power that arises when tradition and modern expression meet. The piece explores how vulnerability and strength can reinforce one another, and how female empowerment grows out of honesty, rhythm and the courage to reveal one’s true self.

Compagnie Tiuri | Jordy Dik
Please Hold My Hand

A vivid poem about female strength in a world out of balance.
The role of women in a world that is out of balance: this is the theme embodied by Please Hold My Hand, a subject that is more pressing than ever. It explores how women navigate a reality they did not create. Faced with gender inequality, inappropriate behaviour and violence, their resilience is something that deserves admiration and must be taken seriously. In the Netherlands, a woman is killed every eight days. These figures make it painfully clear that safety for women cannot be taken for granted.

N’Era Dance | Vlad & Veronika
Remember Us + interview

A look, a small gesture, the choice to stay by someone’s side — sometimes that’s all it takes to feel supported and understood.

Remember Us is an ode to love and the strength of our shared humanity. It celebrates the care we give one another and the courage it takes to reach out. Even in moments of loneliness, love can find us, remind us that we matter, and help us believe in a brighter future.

Vlad and Veronika brought this message to the stage of Holland’s Got Talent, performing a section of the piece on their way to winning the show in 2025.

Ted Brandsen | Het Nationale Ballet
Replay

Ted Brandsen created Replay for Dutch National Ballet in 2014. A duet that impresses precisely because of its beautiful simplicity. For Replay, Brandsen drew inspiration first and foremost from the striking height, elegance and dramatic qualities of former principal dancers Igone de Jongh and Vito Mazzeo.

For his duet, Brandsen chose a solo piano arrangement of a composition from Philip Glass’s film The Hours. Brandsen: “The piano arrangement is less dense and full, leaving more room for transparency. I didn’t want to emphasise the drama, but rather the mystery in the music.”

Hofesh Shechter | NDT
Tunnel Vision

Shechter is known for works that reveal what lies dormant beneath the surface, both within ourselves and in the world around us. The tension between identity, the perception of our mind and that of our body often forms a recurring theme. In his new work for NDT 1, dreamlike scenes unfold alongside sudden flashes of reality, with the dancers pushing their physical limits. “Your mind is a flickering light that has forgotten its source, where thoughts collide and contradict one another,” says Shechter. Grand yet intimate, full of intense physical abandon and pulsating music, this work promises to be a surreal journey that will completely sweep you away.