About us

Having graduated in phenomenology, I embrace the idea that we perceive the world through our senses. Stimulating the senses, which I like to do by removing stimuli instead of adding them, allows us to get more 'into' our body and to be able to perceive more clearly. I try to address my audience on the deepest dimension of embodiment and postpone rational and analytical thinking for a while.

In order to undergo a transformation and achieve change, it is sometimes necessary to leave our comfort zone. I work with the three phases of what is called a 'liminal experience'; a transitional period or state between two clearly defined phases, characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity, in which old identities are challenged and new forms of self-consciousness begin to emerge. To provide a liminal experience, I work with the metaphors of descent and ascent, both with performers in the studio, as well as in the (dramaturgical) construction of my work.

We experience the world through our senses; ears, eyes, nose, touch. The synergy of our senses determines our worldview. By influencing, destabilizing, or disorienting the way we perceive, we create space for a new worldview, new solutions, and new way of relating to the world. Not knowing sometimes provides more knowledge than having a constant grip on the world around you.

One of my wishes for the audience is to broaden the surface of their sensitivity. By that I mean the sensory-tactile field of their nervous system, so that they literally become more physically sensitive. The proximity of performers and the use of soft light are sensory ways to achieve this. Conceptually, I use this methods by, for example, approaching activist themes not with emphasis and aggression, but with softness and empathy.

In order penetrate to the deeper layers of a work, but also to uncover your own layers, we need time. In my work you get time to incorporate what you experience.

I also take time to prepare the audience before attending a work. The waiting room I created for Woman's Work was a way to 'empty' the body and make it receptive, in preparation for experiencing the work.
In the studio with performers, I work with time and repetition. Taking the time to do an exercise three times opens up more layers than if we continue with something else after just doing it once.

Breath is always there. Breathing to create rhythm, increase concentration, to express unity, to increase a pace. Inhalation as a sign of hope, inspiration, or as a building block. Exhalation as relaxation, a sign of letting go, or descening. Everyone has a body, everyone breathes. Breath is always there.

The body in motion, both that of performers and that of the audience. Having graduated as a choreographer and with having dancing experience myself, I use movement as an expression of energy. I do not pursue an aesthetic ideal, but I take the body in motion as a direct translation of what is happening on the inside.

I search with performers for the most transparent state of 'being' possible. Being part of a performance and being present as naturally as possible, without vanity or masks, even when an audience is watching you, is a challenge and makes you vulnerable. But transparency has enormous expressiveness and appeal. It can disarm and in doing so evoke new possibilities, associations, reflections, and emotions.

Art can calibrate our inner compass, as long as we take the time and space to allow it. Working with (temporary) silences, stillness or the absence of stimuli, sharpens the senses and creates space for incorporating what we experience as an audience.

In the studio I work with 'silent days', days when everyone in the studio says as little as possible. This creates concentration and means that we really have to listen to what is happening in and between our bodies.