In the dance performance Crazy Blues the Internationaal Danstheater, along with choreographer Neel Verdoorn and composer/musical director Micha Molthoff, honours the beautiful repertoire of the Blueswomen in particular and the Blues in general.

The dancers of the Internationaal Danstheater are challenged to express their deepest and personal motivation to move. Just like the voice of the blues,  often reaching the raw dark edges,  the dancers  explore their physical limits. The dancers will be live accompanied by the special voice of singer and actress Joy Wielkens.

“Blues means what milk does to a baby. Blues is what the spirit is to a minister. We sing the blues because our hearts have been disturbed. But when you sing the blues, let it be classy.”

– Alberta Hunter, 1977

The Blues has many variations and faces. From the ‘Deep South’ in the U.S.A.  it has evolved into a music and dance form which gave room to the expression of feelings. Only by dancing and singing the slaves on the cotton plantations were able to survive the appalling conditions in which they lived. Dancing and making music together or alone, with or without instruments, was often the only way for them to express and to soothe their suffering.

Typical of all styles and variations in which the Blues dance has developed are the athletic and grounded way of moving: body parts seem to move apart from each other, they isolate themselves and lead their own lives.

Crazy Blues is the winner of the Dans Publieksprijs (Dance Audience Award) 2015.

“The male dancers are now in the ‘joint’, marked by two wooden bars where they come together in a sexy kind of lazyness, which can be associated with life at the river banks of the Mississippi.”

– Trouw

“Dancers William Lü and Michael Sastrowitomo are a delight to watch. Michael looks like he just hopped on stage while visiting a nightclub in New Orleans. This is what makes us smile.”

– Het Parool

“In Joy Wielkens you can hear the sound of all the strong singers that made the blues a success, you can feel the passion and the pain.”

– de Volkskrant

Premiere 23 Februay 2015
Choreography Neel Verdoorn
Musical director Micha Molthoff
Vocals Joy Wielkens
Musicians Vladimir Spisiak, Ruben Drenth, Louis Drenth
Costume and stage design Karisma Costumes
Light design Pelle Herfst

Crazy Blues is a production of the Internationaal Danstheater.