Typhoon

coproduction Introdans and De Châtel sur Place

In a windless prologue accompanied by the rippling piano sounds of Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato, the dancers prepare themselves for what is to come. They hang off balance as if leaning against the wind. Their arms cleave the air. They are ready for battle. Then the growing noise of wind machines drowns out the soft piano sounds. The dancers fill their lungs and proudly fight this (invisible) matter that they make tangible while dancing. The monumental dance performance Typhoon (1986) by choreographer Krisztina De Châtel will be revived in the spring of 2025 and danced by the dancers of Introdans. The choreographic urge for order of De Châtel – queen of minimalist dance – is tested in this performance, as it were, in a flying storm.

For the performance Typhoon, Krisztina de Châtel collaborated with visual artist Peter Vermeulen and composer Simeon ten Holt. The central theme in Peter Vermeulen’s work is the conversion of energy into moving and sound-producing images. For Typhoon he developed the idea of ​​having the dancers enter into a direct confrontation with the incalculable forces of the wind. He installed three wind machines that can vary in strength from a light breeze to a heavy storm. De Châtel then allows her dancers to directly confront the wind machines designed by Vermeulen. 

“I have always been an admirer of Krisztina de Châtel’s minimalist work. The clarity in structure, the minimal shifts and the battle with the power of the wind machines are enormously fascinating. Introdans is committed to cherishing and reviving existing repertoire to prevent dance from becoming disposable art and to ensure that a new generation of audiences can become acquainted with these impressive works.”

– Roel Voorintholt, artistic director of Introdans