Maya Roest

Maya Roest

The Flemish Maya Roest has always been an articulate type. "My mother taught me to stand up for myself."

During her first audition at Scapino, as a 19-year-old, she narrowly missed out. "We had to do a pointe piece, not really my thing. But when Ed Wubbe saw her perform later that year in the Codarts programme Talent On The Move and then, during a chance meeting, told her to give him a call, she didn't waste any time. "I got his assistant on the phone and she asked: 'Is it for a contract or an internship? For a moment I considered saying contract, but of course I was happy with an internship." When she then auditioned again and Wubbe remarked that he would like to work with her one day, she reminded him of that after a while. "That's why he created the solo Olé for me during my internship year. A very special experience.

Not a pale ballet girl

Tinkering, modelling, sewing her own clothes: Maya has been very creative since childhood. One day she hears music at the secondary school where her mother is a chemistry and physics teacher. The sound turned out to be coming from a ballet class. "I knew immediately: I want to do that too!"

At the age of nine, she starts at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp. Even then, she is anything but a bleak ballet girl. "I played with everyone and was not afraid to open my mouth, especially if someone was wronged." After her training, she decided to continue studying for two more years at Codarts Rotterdam. "A fantastic time. I got to know so many styles, had so many wonderful teachers and could do so many work placements. Already in her first week at Codarts she has a clear dream: either dance with Ultima Vez in Brussels, or with Scapino.

Maya Roest

Developing yourself, absorbing new information, that's what it's all about.

 

Revelation

She enjoys working with Ed Wubbe, the freedom he gives his dancers. But she also likes being pulled out of her comfort zone. Like by former resident choreographer Georg Reischl. "Working with him was a real revelation. He is very driven, knows how to get the most out of you."

Or by Marcos Morau, who, she says, like Reischl has a unique style of his own. "Marcos' Pablo was very theatrical, completely different from anything I had done before. In any case, it is wonderful if you are surprised, challenged to tap into new sides of yourself. Keep growing, developing yourself, absorbing new information, that's what it's all about for me, otherwise it quickly becomes boring."

Curriculum Vitae

Born
1988, Zwalm, Belgium

Education
- Royal Ballet School Antwerp
- Codarts Rotterdam

Danced previously (as a trainee) with
- WArd/waRD
- Paul Selwyn Norton
- Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel

With Scapino since
2009

Scholarships, awards and prizes
- Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation scholarship (2007 - 2009)

Maya Roest

Ada

Together with her friend and fellow dancer Mischa van Leeuwen, Maya started the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition in 2018, which now attracts hundreds of participants every year. "Besides Scapino, that takes up almost all my time. I have learned so much from it, in terms of marketing, production, writing plans, applying for grants, and have built up a gigantic network through it. Hopefully, I can build on that after my dance career.

The remaining time is for Ada, Maya and Mischa's daughter born in June 2021. "Producing a living being and seeing how she develops in a short time is something unimaginably beautiful, which puts many other things into perspective." What she wants to give her daughter above all? "Love! And the realisation that she can be whoever she wants to be."

 

Photography: Khalid Amakran | Interview: Astrid van Leeuwen

Maya Roest

I am not a technical dancer. I dance from my intuition, I convey things as I feel them.

This season featuring in

  • Vier vervreemdende personen in zwarte kleding tegen een donkerblauwe achtergrond

    Cathedral

    A wondrous journey into tomorrow's world and a search for what makes us human. A revival of the successful production by choreographer Marcos Morau.

Danced in a.o.

  • Man met vegen opgezocht zit op een bed in het bos en kijkt langs de camera. Op de achtergrond lopen een vrouw en een kind hand in hand.

    Song of the dark forest

    A moving, compelling and comforting performance, performed by the complete group of dancers of Scapino, an opera singer and live music by the DoelenEnsemble.
  • Vergrijsd-blauwe afbeelding met daarop twee personen met rood haar. De vrouw vooraan heeft een arm op haar heup en leunt naar achteren. Achter haar staat een man met zijn armen als pijl en boog.

    Two Tales

    Young emerging dance makers tell poignant stories with solid roots in the lore and customs of their native land.
  • Vrouw in een zwart korset met blote armen en een grote gouden tooi op het hoofd in de vorm van de manen van een paard. Zij heeft haar armen sierlijk geheven alsof zij loopt. De achtergrond is goud met een geverfde cirkel.

    Oscar

    Carré en Scapino Ballet presenteren: Oscar, een hommage aan Oscar Carré met dans, theater, circus én live muziek van Blaudzun. Exclusief te zien in Carré.
  • Danser op een rode achtergrond met geverfde letter X. Hij draagt een zwarte glimmende top en strekt zijn armen uit richting de camera.

    The Square2

    Four young makers meet eachother in The Square2, a new full-length production of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
  • The Blend

    The Blend

    Scapino starts the new season at the Van Nelle Fabriek, Rotterdam icon and world heritage monument.
  • Een leeg theater met op het podium 2 trompettisten

    Music in Motion

    The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam have joined forces for a new video project: Music in motion.
  • Pearl

    Pearl

    World class dance, stunning costumes and mesmerising music by composers like Vivaldi.
  • Cathedral campagnebeeld

    Cathedral 2019/2020

    Accompanied by the spiritual music of Arvo Pärt, pure as a heartbeat, Cathedral asks us to reflect on the nature of existence.
  • Made in Rotterdam foto met twee dansers

    Made in Rotterdam

    Scapino Ballet Rotterdam presents four new works, performed and created by Scapino dancers.
  • Zes personen in maritieme kleding staand in een stalen raam als van een schip

    All Hands on Deck

    Scapino and Släpstick (formerly know as Wëreldbänd) bring out the best in each other with superb combinations of dance, physical comedy, slapstick, music and theatre.
  • twools_headerweb.jpg

    TWOOLS 18

    TWOOLS 18 appears to be the last in the series. It is a worthy finale with world premieres by choreographers Ryan Djojokarso, Joeri Dubbe and Maciej Kuzminski.
  • TING! | choreografie Ed Wubbe (foto Eric Fecken)

    TING!

    Dance, music and circus come together on and above a rotating arena to create an enchanting spectacle.
  • Pablo campagnebeeld

    Pablo

    Pablo is an exciting spectacle with dance, theater and orchestra inspired by the lifetime of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.
  • TING! duet Bonnie en Mischa

    TING!

    Dance, music and circus come together on and above a rotating arena to create an enchanting spectacle.
  • TWOOLS 17

    TWOOLS 17

    Under the motto "More dance does not fit in" Scapino Ballet Rotterdam presents TWOOLS17. In 75 minutes 22 dancers dance in 8 pieces by 7 choreographers.
  • twools_16_chor_ed_wubbe_8097_foto_hans_gerritsen.jpg

    TWOOLS 16

    Six world premiers from choreographers like Marcos Morau, Itamar Serussi en Ed Wubbe. Met live muziek van Michiel Borstlap and Katharina Gross.
  • Pearl

    Pearl

    World class dance, stunning costumes and mesmerising music by composers like Vivaldi.
  • Leslie Humbert in The Great Bean

    The Great Bean

    Circus, illusionism, variety and dance: the The Great Bean takes place in the atmosphere of the roaring twenties, the emergence of jazz, Hollywood and vaudeville on Broadway with new dance styles like charleston and tap dance.
  • twools_15 nagasaki_met_leslie_humbert_close_-_foto_hans_gerritsen_4268.jpg

    TWOOLS 15

    TWOOLS celebrates its fifteenth edition with, according to the flyer, "a kaleidoscopic dance-zap evening in which dancers, technicians ánd spectators have to move fast."
  • Zes danseressen in lange oranje jurken

    TWOOLS at the opera

    The most beautiful music from various operas, five choreographers, all the Scapino dancers, a beautiful décor and a planned murder of the dance.