Silent Songs

Silent Songs
Silent Songs
Silent Songs
Silent Songs
Silent Songs
Silent Songs
Silent Songs

The DoelenEnsemble based in Rotterdam and Internationaal Danstheater based in Amsterdam are joining forces in a sensational programme featuring the Silent Songs of composer Valentin Silvestrov and the piano piece Natalon by Simeon ten Holt. Both inspired choreographer Neel Verdoorn and she has created three duets especially for the ID dancers.

They are based on the same source of inspiration that lies at the heart of Silvestrov’s and Ten Holt’s musical masterpieces. Silent Songs has now captured the hearts of numerous people in theatres across the Netherlands and at De Parade theatre festival in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the summer of 2016.

The link with ID is the diversity in culturally-specific styles. Verdoorn also drew inspiration from other sources including the film Brief Encounters by David Lean in which a man and a woman have fleeting meetings. Lean used Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 4 for the movie’s soundtrack. A remake of this film was made in 1984 with the title ‘Falling in Love’ starring Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep.

“A compelling combination of song, dance and piano. (…) The baritone (Wiebe-Pier Cnossen) complemented the dance through his often melancholy vocals and the dance was in turn complementary to his vocals. A brilliant combination of both. This made it a moving, romantic and sometimes passionate whole. (…) I highly recommend it! … You’ve got to see, hear and feel this.”

– Dans Magazine

Read the complete review.

Premiere 12 December 2015
Choreography Neel Verdoorn
Dance Francesca Peniguel, William Lu
Baritone Wiebe Pier Cnossen
Piano Maarten van Veen
Music Valentin Silvestrov, Simeon ten Holt, Gyorgi Ligeti, John Cage Landscape, Dave Maric
Costume Karisma Costumes
Light design Chiel Ten Cate