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Netherland Dans Theatre Comes to Orange County
by Liz Goldner
The Netherlands Dans Theater (NDT) is known throughout the world for innovative choreography, exploration of new dance forms, and expressive techniques. The company, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, March 30 through April 4, is also celebrated for its superb skill, sexy style, and combination of classical dance training and modern technique.
As the dance company hails from The Hague--home to the International Court of Justice—it seems fitting that its dancers come from nearly two-dozen countries. Artistic Director, Jiri Kylián (with the company since 1975), comes from Prague.
In all three NDT companies (NDT I, NDT II for young dancers up to the age of 21, and NDT III for dancers over 40), dancers are of equal status. Their flawless movements and great stamina are derived from their daily practice and precise discipline.
Among the most striking aspects of the performances is the aggressive partnering of dancers. Entangled webs of dancers often flow into new and unpredictable juxtapositions and partnering. Although the contemporary dance sequences are not predictable, movements flow organically from previous movements. Dancers move gracefully, with strong definitions of line, and are as comfortable on the floor they are standing.
NDT dancers express a broad range of emotions through movement—elation, celebration, and freedom, as well as psychological confinement, anxiety, and entrapment. The sets and backdrops are contemporary, uncomplicated, and integrated into the performances.
In this final season under Artistic Director Jiri Kylián, Netherland Dans Theater performs two programs in Segerstrom Hall: the Southern California premieres of Jiri Kylián’s 27’ 52”, Claude Pascal, and Last Touch on March 30 and 31 at 8 p.m. It performs the Southern California premieres of Kylián’s Click-Pause-Silence and Symphony of Psalms and Johan Inger’s Walking Mad on April 2 and 3 at 8 p.m. and April 4 at 2 p.m. Free Preview lectures by NDT Executive Director Glenn Edgerton and Artistic Director Anders Hellstrom are offered one hour prior to each performance. Tickets are $20.00 to $75.00.
The Performing Arts Center Box Office, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The box office also remains open one half hour after the show begins: 714 556-2787.
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