14/09/2026
Futuristic-looking quintet
Monumento (2026), by Canadian choreographer Kirsten Wicklund, also refers to a social milestone. Wicklund created this new, futuristic-looking quintet to a specially commissioned composition by Willem Jeths. Jeths wrote Monument to a Universal Marriage in 2011 as a musical monument marking the tenth anniversary of the opening of civil marriage to everyone, including same-sex couples.
Wicklund takes classical technique as her starting point, with two women dancing en pointe, but develops their interaction with three male dancers on an equal footing: who leads whom is constantly changing. Wearing sophisticated, high-gloss bodysuits, they are drawn towards one another with a trembling nervous energy.
Colombian-American soprano Eva Rae Martinez and Dutch mezzo-soprano Aaike Nortier perform Egyptian love poetry set to music. The vocal parts can also be performed by two men, or by a man and a woman. With its sensitive performance, the Ballet Orchestra once again makes a major contribution to the intimacy of this quintet, despite the considerable size of the stage.
https://www.volkskrant.nl/theater/ook-ballet-kan-gaan-over-de-drama-s-in-de-wereld-blijkt-uit-het-vierluik-legacies-van-het-nationale-ballet~b38e5b02/
