Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten have received the Gouden Zwaan (Golden Swan) in recognition of their undeniable contribution to contemporary dance. Fantastic. And so wonderfully contradictory to their artistic careers. After all, Emio and Pieter exist because of the Clash; the clash, the friction, fra cervello e movimento, between brain and movement.
For the award, the jury explicitly referred to the international allure of their work, which is also evident from the first part in their trilogy Fra Cervello e Movimento (between brain and movement). Since 1995, their collaboration has been an unremitting quest for the intuitive body and its motives.
Jury: “Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten rebel against the view of the body as subordinate to the mind. Our thinking needs the body as an inexhaustible source of experience and knowledge. Their performances bear witness to this constant search for the embodied experience that precedes language. In recent decades, the choreographies of Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten have proved to be a rich source for formulating a new dance vocabulary, by constantly exploring the theatrical space between meaning and form. For them, the dancer’s body is a tabula rasa that, in each performance, traces a course around the question of what it means to be human. The intensity of their artistry led the jury to award them the Golden Swan.”
During their words of thanks, Pieter and Emio could not name you – from loyal audiences to confidants, friendly artists – and all the partners who have made these productions possible in recent years. But: “You can hear them; they are beating hard in our hearts.” Thank you!
With your support, Emio and Pieter have been able to develop an oeuvre from the body in revolt. Finally, they bowed to all the dancers who carry their work, embody it and give it their own vision.
This award is going to spread its wings. The golden swan is dedicated to Space, Space for the Intuitive Body. 9th October 2021
