THIS IS JUST A SIMPLE DANCE

LS&Co. X Gerben Vaillant (NL)

‘’Somewhere, a bit of a shabby place, a parking lot or somewhere with the kind of lights that make you look sick. They messed up the view with those fences. Behind them there are dunes. They are ugly as well, but at least they are dunes. On the left, another parking lot and on the right the snack bar and a bit further the wooden stairs that take you up on the dune. Up there, you can see the beach and the sea. You don’t need to go there. We have everything we need.’’

Dates 2024

Performance 

11th May | Dansateliers (Rotterdam) – Premiere

12th May | Dansateliers (Rotterdam)

18th May | Plein Theater (Amsterdam) 

2nd November |  Korzo Theater (The Hague)

©Pien Düthmann_HUIS Conny Janssen Danst
©Pien Düthmann_HUIS Conny Janssen Danst

Coming soon!

Other “This is just a simple dance” events:

6th April | Workshop + presentation :at HUIS Conny Janssen Danst

3rd May | Rule of Three event at Time Window 

6th May | Movement class at Dansateliers

Credits

Choreography & direction
Gerben Vaillant x Lazy Susan & Co.

Performers
Alice Gioria, Keren-or Ben Shachar, Iris Boer, Hellen Boyko, Catarina Ribeiro

Production
Lazy Susan & Co.

Supported by:
Conny Janssen Danst, Dansateliers, Time Window

‘’This is just a simple dance’’ is a collaboration between mime artist Gerben Vaillant and the dance company Lazy Susan & Co.  The physical and visual performance, set in a desolate village, forms the framework for the dancers and Gerben to explore several of their interests. The photographs of Alessandra Sanguinetti and Ton Grote, femininity as a sensibility, the voice of Sinead O’Connor and dance as a way to dig into physical sensations, are some of the starting points. The composition of chaos and randomness on stage searches to capture and display the beauty in simplicity and the touching dreams and fantasies of the performers on stage. 

“This is just a simple dance” is the wrong place for something beautiful. Somewhere in between a painting, theater and dance. We like to get lost in the beautiful simplicity of not having a better option. 

©Pien Düthmann_HUIS Conny Janssen Danst
©Pien Düthmann_HUIS Conny Janssen Danst

About Gerben Vaillant

Gerben Vaillant (1994) is an interdisciplinary performance artist. During his studies at the mime course (AHK), he nourished a fascination for creating performances in which the distance between people and reality is central: Where people fail to be (part of) a whole. Both sensitive and radical, he works with different forms: text,  image, dance, philosophy, trash, it can be anything, but usually the work is atmospheric and sometimes confusing in nature. Ultimately he hopes to contribute to a reality that suits us better.