Arno Schuitemaker

Work

The End - part 2

"Intimate and performed by three dancers whose bodies move with sensual fluidity, The End – part 2 unfolds within a universe steeped in the atmosphere of nightclubs. Through seamless transitions, the piece navigates a space somewhere in the middle — or on the edge — of the night. Tall, transparent screens suspended on stage act both as set elements and projection surfaces. Incorporating highly inventive live video material, this original stage design greatly contributes to the aura of the performance, which captivates from start to finish.” — Jérôme Provençal, Les Inrocks

Light cuts the dark; bodies flicker, disappear. Blending movement, electronic music, light, and video, The End – part 2 immerses itself in questions of solidarity and belonging in an increasingly digital, fragmented society. As our identities grow more transparent and everything feels exposed, how do we perceive one another and what do we still share? When does our presence become real?

Inspired by the Stonewall Riots, often seen as the symbolic “end” of an era of queer invisibility and oppression in the 1960s, the title The End – part 2 (there is no part 1) strikes an ironic note, invoking closure only to refuse it. Proposing the unresolved as a political condition, the work traces the unfinished path toward queer liberation. It rejects any sense of finality and insists on the evolving negotiation of identity.

The performance creates an amorphous realm of connections: between the three performers, their queer male bodies, and the video projections. Two cameras multiply them across transparent gauzes and magnify their faces. The lines between performer and audience, observer and observed, fact and fiction overlap and blur. What emerges is a collection of short ‘stories’, a sensory crossfade of energy, stillness, distortion, sensitivity, image and skin.

Beginning with a simple step, each narrative thread tilts into the next, laying bare the fragile dynamics of our social gaze — and, caught between visibility and proximity, our curated selves. As the performers reveal different sides of themselves, they dismantle physical boundaries; the walls we learned to trust yet still reach across.

Find upcoming performance dates and credits by scrolling down.

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Photo: Peteris Viksna

Calendar

Credits

Concept and creation: Arno Schuitemaker
Performers: Mark Christoph Klee, Ivan Ugrin, Angelo Petracca
Dramaturgy: Guy Cools
Lighting design: Jean Kalman
Music: Aart Strootman
Video: Gilbert Nouno
Costumes: Victor Klijsen
Set design: Jean Kalman and Arno Schuitemaker
Technical producer: Maarten van Burken
Video technician: Daan hazendonk
Technicians: Sander Schaart and Ruben Lijbers
Outside eye: Miguel A. Melgares
The movement material is created in collaboration with the performers.

Production

The End - part 2 is a production by SHARP/ArnoSchuitemaker in coproduction with Montpellier Danse as part of the residency at Agora, International City of Dance, with the support of the BNP Paribas Foundation, Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen en Normandie, La Place de la Danse CDCN Toulouse - Occitanie. Supported by The Performing Arts Fund NL, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Ammodo, and Fonds21.