Arno Schuitemaker

Work

30 appearances out of darkness

Darkness, whatever guise it may take, can be disorienting, even threatening: the unknown, the obscure, the void. But what if there is no escape from it? What if darkness, far from being just an absence of light, can be reimagined as potential, discovered the instant we dare to see differently? “The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be,” Virginia Woolf once wrote. 30 appearances out of darkness turns the confrontation with darkness into a promising reality.

Dimly lit images, sometimes on the verge of perception and illusion, appear in a pitch-black space. Our assumptions about what we see are put to the test as a group of performers moves across the stage, which, with its long black pillars, creates the sensation of a labyrinth. Not everyone is visible at once, yet their presence is always strongly felt. This mysterious world, inked with elusive shadows at first, holds its own kind of gravity and absorbs each and everybody, transforming from a place of protection to hope and, ultimately, conquest. An affirmation of life, offering a radiant response to our contemporary fears.

Arno Schuitemaker: “While reading Derek Jarman’s book Chroma, some of his words deeply resonated with me: ‘Is black hopeless? Doesn’t every dark thundercloud have a silver lining? In black lies the possibility of hope.’ It encouraged me to explore the significance of this paradox and its capacity to benefit and shape us, becoming a generative force, regardless of the challenge or crisis we might face. Maybe we can find enlightenment by disappearing in darkness, if only to be able to come out on the other side.”

Hopefulness is risky, since after all it is a form of trust,
trust in the unknown and possible.
Hope in the Dark — Rebecca Solnit

Press
"30 appearances out of darkness takes the form of a phantasmagoric fresco (...) Powerfully evocative, the whole ignites both the imagination and the senses." — Jérôme Provençal (Les Inrockuptibles)

"The performance offers an immersive visual experience of surprising effectiveness, exploring dance within the fullness of darkness and its hidden, mystical revelations (…) A remarkable piece of work." — Paolo Ruffini (Limina Teatri)

"In pitch darkness you look to looming then fading dancers, barely lit yet fully present, sometimes only by a silver outline of their bodies (…) Must-see performance of the year." — Alexander Hiskemuller (Scenes)

Find more reactions in the press, the performance dates, and the credits by scrolling down.

Photo: Quentin Chevrier

Photo: Quentin Chevrier

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Photo: Bart Grietens

Calendar

Press

Top 5 best performances of the season - de Volkskrant
An exceptional all-enveloping crescendo in dance, light and sound that fascinates right until the redeeming finale. 
Between black velvet pillars, the contours of naked bodies emerge one by one. (...) Schuitemaker gradually creates a space for a redeeming finale in this all-absorbing game of disappearing and appearing. It is an impressive feeling to realize that afterward your head is glowing. — Annette Embrechts, de Volkskrant ★★★★

In pitch darkness, you look to emerging then fading dancers, barely lit yet fully present, sometimes only with a silver outline of their bodies (…)
Must-see of the year. — Alexander Hiskemuller, Scenes

30 appearances out of darkness takes the form of a phantasmagoric fresco, oscillating between darkness and light, sometimes on the edge of visibility, inhabited by undulating silhouettes and pierced by compelling pulsations. Powerfully evocative, the whole ignites both the imagination and the senses. — Jérôme Provençal, Les Inrockuptibles (France)

The performance offers a visually immersive experience of surprising effectiveness, exploring dance within the fullness of darkness and its hidden, mystical revelations (…) A remarkable piece of work. — Paolo Ruffini, Limina Teatri (Italy)

The numerous contrasts between music, light, and the interpretations of an intense, rhythmic, and extremely energetic choreography make this immersive experience an extraordinary, absolutely mind-blowing, and spellbinding performance. — Sophie Lesort, Danser Canal Historique (France)

Movement, light, and sound engage in a perfect dialogue (...) The pivotal moment of the performance is when a voice breaks through the instrumental score. The intense humanness of a voice and a body is very touching. — Heleen Westerik, Cultuurpers

Both the dancers and the audience journey from stillness and darkness to light and movement, from one extreme to the other (...) It is a hallucinatory experience. — Kester Freriks, Theaterkrant

Credits

Creation: Arno Schuitemaker
Performers: Ivan Ugrin, Ahmed El Gendy, Emilia Saavedra, Frederik Kaijser, Rex Collins, Clotilde Cappelletti, Jim Buskens, and Paolo Yao
Dramaturgy: Guy Cools
Music: Aart Strootman
Lighting design: Jean Kalman
Set design: Jean Kalman, Arno Schuitemaker

30 appearances out of darkness is a production of SHARP/ArnoSchuitemaker in coproduction with La Place de la Danse – Centre de Développement Chorégraphique National / Toulouse-Occitanie and POLE-SUD - Centre de Développement Chorégraphique National Strasbourg. Supported by Fonds Podiumkunsten, Amsterdams voor de Kunst, Fonds 21 and Zabawas. Many thanks to the Holland Festival.

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