Voodoo Waltz

The Dutch siblings Imre and Marne van Opstal, who are now celebrating success as international choreographers after their remarkable dance careers at the Nederlands Dans Theater and the Batsheva Dance Company, are bringing the literary work Voodoo Waltz for Epileptics / Hypergraphic Pilgrimage in 36 Hours onto the big stage with an international cast of dancers and three actors from our ensemble.

Welcome to the world of neurodiverse structures.
Welcome to tender breast Amsterdam: the home of lost souls. 

In her dizzying work Voodoo Waltz, Slovenian author Janja Rakuš poetically and brutally sketches a torn world in the middle of Amsterdam's red light district, consisting of algorithms, collective loneliness and unfulfilled longings. Almost fatefully, the former lawyer Ivana and the sex workers Orfan and Kinga as well as the protégé Wilhelm meet here.

They are all epileptics, haunted by seizures and in search of a new identity in a world that doesn't really seem to be made for them. A world from which they dream themselves away with medication, music and spiritual inspirations. Orfan, the poet, wonders about the higher meaning and his sense of belonging during his sessions with customers, while Ivana struggles with the emotional aftermath of her amoral job and the disintegration of her beloved hometown. Wilhelm is addicted to his Daily Jesus app and speculating about immortality.

Imre and Marne van Opstal utilise the power of language and the opulence of images to get to the bottom of the characters' contradictions and secret desires. The bizarre world into which the ensemble plunges seems to have been created for their multi-layered, surrealistic and powerful choreographies. We can expect a frenzy of touch and movement without losing sight of reason and humour.