In the six years since it was conceived and created, the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition, despite its mouthful of a name and the cruel interruption by Covid-19, has become an important event on the international dance calendar. And judging by the nationalities of the entries it could be said that Scapino Ballet dancer Maya Roest and former Scapino principle Mischa van Leeuwen have established a dance event of world significance.
This year, RIDCC took place from the 20th to 23rd June at, as usual, Theater Rotterdam with the sixteen selected choreographers, chosen from 324 submissions, showcasing their talent and competing for substantial prizes. This, as the name implies, is a competition of choreography although in most cases the choreographers also perform the piece.
Although a competition, RIDCC is much more than that and everyone, excuse the cliché, is a winner. It gives a platform for new and established choreographers and describes itself as a “springboard for choreographic talent worldwide . . . promoting diversity and innovation within the art of dance”.
The event took to the stage in semi-finals on the Thursday and Friday evenings with the seven finalist reprising their acts in front of an enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience last night. There was a lot at stake with the winner being awarded €100,000 to create a piece in Rotterdam in the not too distant future. There was also an audience award and numerous others. I did not stay for the results as I did not want them to influence my initial reaction and thoughts on the performances. I will add the results at the end of this review.
For me there were two outstanding performances, the first of which was Are You Guilty? created by Min Kim from Seoul and danced by Mr Kim along with Lee Changmin. Performed in the smokey cone of a single spotlight above the centre of the stage without music or soundscape, this was like a little play, it could almost have been Samuel Beckett or Eugene Ionesco. The two men, with the aid of a round table and a cheap plastic chair, investigate the “bystander effect” whereby people are becoming less and less willing to involve themselves in events they witness. Mr Kim’s avowed intent was to explore the fine line between perpetrator and victim. Although there was no soundtrack there was quite a lot of noise mainly from hands being slapped on the table either aggressively or rhythmically. The performance was riveting stuff with some true suspense, though not entirely without humour.
I very much liked Alessandra Ruggeri’s Hà-Bi-Tus which was performed by Anya Pozzo and Kyda Pozzo. This piece investigated the relationship between identity and the clothes we choose to wear. The two dancers are swathed in a mass of coloured pieces of fabric like a giant quilt. They interact with the cloth, at times immersed in it, other times with it swirlings like a coat of many colours until one of them emerges from the textile maelstrom naked (for all intents and purposes) and walks away.
The second outstanding piece, for me, was Life in Lycra by Andrea Constanzo Martini and performed by him along with Avigail Shafrir Zehava. This was pure, unapologetic comedy, and very funny it was too, although it was clear we were watching two exceptionally talented dancers. This was a particularly apposite composition for this event as it explored the relationship between dancer and choreographer. Both dancers wearing entirely unsuitable and kitschy shimmering Lycra leotards, they demonstrate that dance loses none of its integrity if played for laughs. The action and relationship between the two dancers was described and commented on by a computer generated voice to hilarious effect.
A special mention is also deserved by the final spot of the evening, Somos, choreographed and performed by Carla Cervantes Caro and Egido Ibañez. The two girls were inexorably entwined on a circular orange rug creating a cat’s cradle of arms and legs demonstrating “the voids we all have and all the paths we are”.
The other finalists were Jordan Johnson & Aidan Carberry with their I•T•S, […it is contained in…] by Joanna Holowa Chrona & Yared Tilahun Cederlund and Tu Hoang & Hiro Murata’s False Memories.
So, who were the winners? I have just received the results by email and, not wishing to gloat or say I told you so, the winner of the €100,000XL Production Award for 2024 was Min Kim for Are You Guilty. The prestigious Audience Award chosen by the . . . err . . . audience went to Carla Cervantes Caro & Sandra Egido Ibañez and the Partners’ Awards were fairly equally distributed among all the participants so nobody went home empty handed. Michael Hasted 3rd June 2024
