BalletX in Wubkje Kuindersma's Yonder /
Photographer: Vikki Sloviter
YONDER
a skype ballet
Yonder imagines a journey to a place of hope and dreams...a place where everybody belongs..
Yonder is made for Ballet X, a contemporary ballet company in Philadelphia.
Yonder is created partly via Skype and afterwards finalised and staged with me in person.
As my visa was approved, but arriving slightly delayed, we decided to start via skype.
It was challenging to create via Skype, however i did not have want to miss the chance to work with these beautiful people and dancers.
YONDER
Choreography: Wubkje Kuindersma
Dancers BalletX: Francesca Forcella, Roderick Phifer , Stanley Glover, Chloe Perkes, Caili Quan, Skyler Lubin, Andrea Yorita, Blake Krapels, Richard Villaverde, Zachary Kapeluck
Light-Design: Mark Stanley
Costumes: Christine Darch with Wubkje Kuindersma
With Special Thanks to the Center for Ballet and the Arts - New York University, for the Artistic Partnership Iniative Fellowship.
Premiere: 28th November 2018 The Wilma Theater Philadelphia
Further shows: 29th Nov-9th December 2018 The Wilma Theater Philadelphia
Yonder means "there, overthere"
a poetic point on the horizon
a place of hope and dreams
where we want to move towards
by connecting our personal Yonder to eachother's
together we become a horizon of hope and dreams
Yonder imagines a journey to a place of hope and dreams...a place where everybody belongs..
Yonder is made for Ballet X, a contemporary ballet company in Philadelphia.
Yonder is created partly via Skype and afterwards finalised and staged with me in person.
As my visa was approved, but arriving slightly delayed, we decided to start via skype.
It was challenging to create via Skype, however i did not have want to miss the chance to work with these beautiful people and dancers.
YONDER
Choreography: Wubkje Kuindersma
Dancers BalletX: Francesca Forcella, Roderick Phifer , Stanley Glover, Chloe Perkes, Caili Quan, Skyler Lubin, Andrea Yorita, Blake Krapels, Richard Villaverde, Zachary Kapeluck
Light-Design: Mark Stanley
Costumes: Christine Darch with Wubkje Kuindersma
With Special Thanks to the Center for Ballet and the Arts - New York University, for the Artistic Partnership Iniative Fellowship.
Premiere: 28th November 2018 The Wilma Theater Philadelphia
Further shows: 29th Nov-9th December 2018 The Wilma Theater Philadelphia
Yonder means "there, overthere"
a poetic point on the horizon
a place of hope and dreams
where we want to move towards
by connecting our personal Yonder to eachother's
together we become a horizon of hope and dreams
REVIEWS
"....The program begins with “Yonder: a skype ballet”, a visually stunning work by Dutch choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma, enhanced by excellent lighting design by Mark Stanley. The work’s subtitle gives away its beginnings: visa problems led to choreography starting via internet video. This is little evident in the finished work, which makes full use of the whole stage.
Stellar dancer Francesca Forcella enters dressed in a striking blue dress, parading past a background of grey-frocked fellow-dancers behind a black curtain of beads. The first section culminates in a duet, including an impressive moment when Forcella pushes her partner through the curtain. Costumes by Christine Darch play a key role in the piece. Dancers return in blue tints, complex individual choreography giving way to form a mass of bodies, from which individual performers drip away in a stunning organic movement.
The final section of “Yonder” features less interesting choreography, but the most affectingly communicative moments of the evening. To Antony and The Johnson’s haunting, stripped-down version of John Lennon’s “Imagine”, the company of dancers gradually form one body. We cannot escape our society, Kuindersma seems to say, let’s imagine it being the best it can be...."
Phindie - by Christopher Munden - November 29th 2018
"...Leading the evening was Yonder, a Skype Ballet, by Wubkje Kuindersma, a mysterious work where the ten dancers seemed to be looking into the horizon, or yonder, for hope, for answers, and for peace. The group dynamics often reminded audience members of Gerald Arpino or Maurice Bejart, while one duet for two men stood out with distinction. Stanley Glover and Roderick Phifer appeared to be close friends, perhaps lovers, in a grand, expansive duet which was a joy to witness. Yonder is a beautiful work well worth a return viewing in the future...."
PhillyGayCalendar by Ralph Malachowski on December 4th 2018
"...Dutch choreographer Kuindersma turned the ten member cast in her “Yonder, a skype ballet” into a delicate blue wave. The Skype part is merely nominal as our government, once again, prevented an artist coming to our shores to work. And so, Kuindersma and the company began the ballet via Skype until her visa was approved.
In sparkly royal blue, Francesca Forcella floats out in slow lunges and arabesque penchés like a diving sea sprite. The others, Stanley Glover, Zachary Kapeluck, Krapels, Skyler Lubin, Chloe Perkes, Roderick Phifer, Caili Quan, Villaverde, and Andrea Yorita, all in soft ballet slippers and clad in Christine Darch’s gradients of sea foam blues, stand behind a black scrim. Krapels emerges through it to partner Forcella who curtsies to him. She seems to feign imbalance as he leads her behind the scrim. In the last section, to Antony and the Johnson’s cover of “Imagine,” Glover and Phifer pair up, also in deep penché and suave release-technique lunges. Glover moves like an étoile, his musculature all smoothly well-oiled and full of artistic grace. But the entire cast rained beauty on this pure ballet. The fluid arm-over-arm groupings melted one dancer into another repeatedly, like waves softly lapping at our shores....."
Fjord Review by Merilyn Jackson - December 4th 2018
"...A transparent curtain stretches across the stage, like the line of the horizon, in Dutch choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma’s sea and sky ballet Yonder. Francesca Forcella, wearing a dark blue dress, dances a lustrous solo out front as a group of dancers are arrayed horizontally behind the curtain. As the piece develops, individuals cross back and forth across the dividing line. The ensemble often moves in unison, like an undertow following behind Forcella. In a repeated motif, the dancers vulnerably open their chests upward, as if offering up their hearts. The music, by Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet, sounds like a storm surge as the dancers vigorously curve their torsos forward to break like lines of waves. Yonder ends with a contrasting section set to a version of John Lennon’s “Imagine” (sung by Antony and the Johnsons). The song choice is predictable, yet the sense of idealism is touching as the dancers hold on to one another and look out an imaginary point far past the audience..."
Copyright - The Dance Journal: BalletX Enthralls with Fall Concert Series https://philadelphiadance.org/dancejournal/2018/11/30/balletx-enthralls-with-fall-concert-series/
The Dance Journal - by Jane Fries- November 30th 2018
Yonder
"....In contrast, Wubkje Kuindersma’s “Yonder” offered a meditation on collaboration. Billed as a “Skype ballet,” this dance initially developed over international video calls due to issues with the choreographer’s visa, but it fosters human connection through nature rather than technology.
“Yonder” looks to a place we hope to move toward. Kuindersma explains that “connecting our personal Yonder” to others allows us to “become a horizon of hopes and dreams.” The work realized the beauty and optimism of these sentiments in a dance of liberation and unity.
Francesca Forcella, in a blue dress, seemed to free grey-clad dancers behind a sheer curtain. She lured them out and gathered them together like a mother hen, an image reinforced by deep backbends and birdlike shapes Forcella made with her arms.
Another section drew upon water and waves as the dancers circled their arms and shoulders as if diving or swimming. When the company formed a circle around Forcella and lifted her, she looked like the stamen of a flower.
Mark Stanley’s gorgeous lighting created moods and setting on a bare stage, and music by Laurie Anderson and the Kronos Quartet contributed to the piece’s otherworldly quality. I did not care for the final scene’s use of Antony and the Johnsons’ cover of “Imagine”; the switch to popular music with lyrics was jarring, and John Lennon’s 1971 song is untouchable. The song is also is too literal for Kuindersma’s ethereal visions, which, aside from this misstep, invite viewers to do their own imagining....."
BroadstreetReview by Melissa Strong - November 30th 2018
Stellar dancer Francesca Forcella enters dressed in a striking blue dress, parading past a background of grey-frocked fellow-dancers behind a black curtain of beads. The first section culminates in a duet, including an impressive moment when Forcella pushes her partner through the curtain. Costumes by Christine Darch play a key role in the piece. Dancers return in blue tints, complex individual choreography giving way to form a mass of bodies, from which individual performers drip away in a stunning organic movement.
The final section of “Yonder” features less interesting choreography, but the most affectingly communicative moments of the evening. To Antony and The Johnson’s haunting, stripped-down version of John Lennon’s “Imagine”, the company of dancers gradually form one body. We cannot escape our society, Kuindersma seems to say, let’s imagine it being the best it can be...."
Phindie - by Christopher Munden - November 29th 2018
"...Leading the evening was Yonder, a Skype Ballet, by Wubkje Kuindersma, a mysterious work where the ten dancers seemed to be looking into the horizon, or yonder, for hope, for answers, and for peace. The group dynamics often reminded audience members of Gerald Arpino or Maurice Bejart, while one duet for two men stood out with distinction. Stanley Glover and Roderick Phifer appeared to be close friends, perhaps lovers, in a grand, expansive duet which was a joy to witness. Yonder is a beautiful work well worth a return viewing in the future...."
PhillyGayCalendar by Ralph Malachowski on December 4th 2018
"...Dutch choreographer Kuindersma turned the ten member cast in her “Yonder, a skype ballet” into a delicate blue wave. The Skype part is merely nominal as our government, once again, prevented an artist coming to our shores to work. And so, Kuindersma and the company began the ballet via Skype until her visa was approved.
In sparkly royal blue, Francesca Forcella floats out in slow lunges and arabesque penchés like a diving sea sprite. The others, Stanley Glover, Zachary Kapeluck, Krapels, Skyler Lubin, Chloe Perkes, Roderick Phifer, Caili Quan, Villaverde, and Andrea Yorita, all in soft ballet slippers and clad in Christine Darch’s gradients of sea foam blues, stand behind a black scrim. Krapels emerges through it to partner Forcella who curtsies to him. She seems to feign imbalance as he leads her behind the scrim. In the last section, to Antony and the Johnson’s cover of “Imagine,” Glover and Phifer pair up, also in deep penché and suave release-technique lunges. Glover moves like an étoile, his musculature all smoothly well-oiled and full of artistic grace. But the entire cast rained beauty on this pure ballet. The fluid arm-over-arm groupings melted one dancer into another repeatedly, like waves softly lapping at our shores....."
Fjord Review by Merilyn Jackson - December 4th 2018
"...A transparent curtain stretches across the stage, like the line of the horizon, in Dutch choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma’s sea and sky ballet Yonder. Francesca Forcella, wearing a dark blue dress, dances a lustrous solo out front as a group of dancers are arrayed horizontally behind the curtain. As the piece develops, individuals cross back and forth across the dividing line. The ensemble often moves in unison, like an undertow following behind Forcella. In a repeated motif, the dancers vulnerably open their chests upward, as if offering up their hearts. The music, by Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet, sounds like a storm surge as the dancers vigorously curve their torsos forward to break like lines of waves. Yonder ends with a contrasting section set to a version of John Lennon’s “Imagine” (sung by Antony and the Johnsons). The song choice is predictable, yet the sense of idealism is touching as the dancers hold on to one another and look out an imaginary point far past the audience..."
Copyright - The Dance Journal: BalletX Enthralls with Fall Concert Series https://philadelphiadance.org/dancejournal/2018/11/30/balletx-enthralls-with-fall-concert-series/
The Dance Journal - by Jane Fries- November 30th 2018
Yonder
"....In contrast, Wubkje Kuindersma’s “Yonder” offered a meditation on collaboration. Billed as a “Skype ballet,” this dance initially developed over international video calls due to issues with the choreographer’s visa, but it fosters human connection through nature rather than technology.
“Yonder” looks to a place we hope to move toward. Kuindersma explains that “connecting our personal Yonder” to others allows us to “become a horizon of hopes and dreams.” The work realized the beauty and optimism of these sentiments in a dance of liberation and unity.
Francesca Forcella, in a blue dress, seemed to free grey-clad dancers behind a sheer curtain. She lured them out and gathered them together like a mother hen, an image reinforced by deep backbends and birdlike shapes Forcella made with her arms.
Another section drew upon water and waves as the dancers circled their arms and shoulders as if diving or swimming. When the company formed a circle around Forcella and lifted her, she looked like the stamen of a flower.
Mark Stanley’s gorgeous lighting created moods and setting on a bare stage, and music by Laurie Anderson and the Kronos Quartet contributed to the piece’s otherworldly quality. I did not care for the final scene’s use of Antony and the Johnsons’ cover of “Imagine”; the switch to popular music with lyrics was jarring, and John Lennon’s 1971 song is untouchable. The song is also is too literal for Kuindersma’s ethereal visions, which, aside from this misstep, invite viewers to do their own imagining....."
BroadstreetReview by Melissa Strong - November 30th 2018
BalletX in Wubkje Kuindersma's Yonder / Photographer: Vikki Sloviter
