How to cope with a sunset scenography

How to cope with a sunset when the horizon has been dismantled: Stage design for Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT 1) The Hague. Directed by Marina Mascarell. Premiered on February 3rd, 2022 (season Traces Left Within), opening of Holland Dance Festival

A sensual, exuberant performance where silence is acknowledged and spaces in between become choreographed. Ten sculptures enter a dialogue with eight dancers, who resonate the abstract geometries, yielding new physicalities.

Stage performance at NDT / Amare, The Hague

Throughout the performance, the dancers establish an intimate relation with the stage, forming a shifting poem-landscape. The work embraces a collaborative approach, where every collaborator has shared their vision and material. The result is a revelry of dance, that raises questions on body representation, gender performativity and musical narration.

*How to cope with the sunset when a horizon has been dismantled*, NDT1

Direction: Marina Mascarell
Choreography and Performance by: Jon Bond, Conner Bormann, Donnie Duncan Jr, Boston Gallacher, Nicole Ishimaru, Paxton Ricketts, Lea Ved and Tess Voelker.
Stage design: Ludmila Rodrigues
Light design: Leticia Skrycky
Costumes & choreography assistance: Nina Botkay
Dramaturgy: Riikka Laakso
Rehearsal director: Lucas Crandall

Music: Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, played by Vienna Philharmonic & Sir Georg Solti; John Cage: Eight Whiskus (Version for Violin) played by Irvine Arditti; György Ligeti: Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet: III, played by Albert Schweitzer Quintet; Jean Sibelius: 2 Pieces from Kuolema, Op.44: No. 1, Valse Triste, played by San Francisco Symphony & Michael Tilson Thomas.

NRC Review:
“Prachtig is ook het toneelbeeld in How to cope with a sunset when the horizon has been dismantled van de Spaanse Marina Mascarell. Met losse, onregelmatig gevormde objecten is het een zee vol drijvende ijsschotsen in een onwerkelijk licht.” – Francine van der Wiel, February 6th, 2022, NRC, Netherlands

(“The stage image in How to cope with a sunset when the horizon has been dismantled by the Spanish Marina Mascarell is also beautiful. With loose, irregularly shaped objects it is a sea full of floating ice floes in an unreal light.”)

*How to cope with a sunset…* choreographed by Marina Mascarell

Creative process at NDT dance studio, The Hague

The sculptures were modeled with 3D software, then shaped in foam (six of them) or in wood, cut by CNC (four of them) and coated in rubber.

With thanks to Sofia Chionidou, Tjitte Meijer, Yvo van Os.