Igone de Jongh performes a new dance on Canto Ostinato in Carré
Igone de Jongh, Holland’s most famous ballet dancer, will be performing exclusively at Royal Theatre Carré in the coming weeks with an entirely new and specially developed show on Canto Ostinato by Simeon ten Holt…
Despite the fact that theatres have been closed to visitors for months, Igone has continued to train and rehearse to stay in top form. During these rehearsals, the idea arose to create a show in cooperation with Carré, which would be performed as soon as the doors can be opened again for 100 (or more) visitors.
De Jongh: “During the pandemic, our need for contact with each other surfaced more than ever. Just human contact, love and the possibility to be there for each other. ‘Corona’ gave us a new perspective on how much we need each other. Each other as partners, colleagues, lovers, family, but also among ourselves as audience and dancers. We always do it with each other and we will have to keep doing it. That’s why I chose to work with two young talented dancers from the European School of Ballet. I really wanted to share the magical experience of creating together with the new generation.”
During her 24 years with the Dutch National Ballet, Igone has danced all the classical ballets. The collaboration with Carré to develop this special performance turned out to be an opportunity to discover new worlds, try out new styles and work with new partners. She therefore consciously chose Lukas Timulak, a choreographer who was classically trained at the highest level, but who in his further career has explored modern versions of classical ballet, including for a considerable time at NDT. By making his dance vocabulary his own, Igone has acquired a new language. With Guido Dutilh as a partner, the ideal symbiosis of both their talents and abilities took place, a coming together of two dance worlds that resulted in a completely new 50-minute ballet to Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato.
In short, an all-new performance! Besides Guido Dutilh as her regular dance partner, Igone also works with two up-and-coming talents from the European School of Ballet. Besides choreographer Lukas Timulak, the artistic team consists of set designers Peter Bil’ak and Jantje Geldof for lighting design. The costume design is by Annemarije van Harten. The production is made possible by a collaboration between Igone, The Fame Game Initiatives, Senf Theaterpartners and Royal Theatre Carré.
In anticipation of the possibilities, and despite all the limitations imposed by Covid restrictions, Igone and this small team worked on a special way to celebrate the magical moment as soon as it came, together with the audience that is so dear and valuable to the artists. The audience that kept asking her when she would be performing live. With this performance, she wants to answer them. Because whatever the situation, ‘Igone dances on’!