HERFST

After his high-profile performance WINTER/21/J. and the hypnotic LENTE/22/K., the starring role in Ryan Djojokarso's third dance portrait HERFST is Death. Death is imminent. Whether she announces herself is the question, but that she is coming is certain. We cannot avoid it. We must say goodbye. We will mourn. We will build a ritual. A co-production with LIBI.

HERFST is a cross-over in dance, (opera) singing, theater and image. A visually impressive performance in which farewell rituals from different cultures come together. Every culture says goodbye to loved ones differently. From the slice of cake at the coffee table to an exuberant celebration of life. Rituals give direction to our grieving process. In HERFST, songs and farewell rituals from Javanese-Surinamese, Caribbean and Indonesian culture mix with the requiem from Western music history. The performers conjure their fear, deny, furiously confront and long for an image beyond finality. Slowly, the inevitable is thus embraced.

Ryan Djojokarso (Suriname, 1983) is a choreographer and theater maker who, after successful performances such as LIBI, Mom:Me, Giovanni's Room and other collaborations, founded his own foundation LIBI. His first performance WINTER/21/J. was immediately nominated by the Nederlandse Toneeljury as one of the most impressive performances of the season. He won the BNG Bank Dance Award and was nominated for the Dutch Dance Days Young Audience Award. He works with both professional and amateur performers and brings different disciplines together in recognizable and narrative dance theater performances. He has previously created pieces for Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Conny Janssen Danst, Korzo and Konzert Theater Bern, among others.