Pia Meuthen - ALPHA - photo Rob Hogeslag
Pia Meuthen - ALPHA - photo Rob Hogeslag

ALPHA – de nieuwe wildernis

By Pia Meuthen

Five men and a female soprano deliver an explosive mix of dance, acrobatics and classical singing. In ALPHA - the new wilderness choreographer Pia Meuthen places the body language of managers under a magnifying glass. Sharply observing and with liberating irony, the performance exposes the hunger for power.

Since the start of the financial crisis, we have known how much the behaviour of bankers, executives and other top executives affects our daily lives. In ALPHA - the new wilderness Pia Meuthen examines the manners within the 'old boys network' and aptly draws a parallel with the world of the great apes. Without moralising, she shows in this performance how thin the layer of civilisation can sometimes be. In ALPHA - the new wilderness creeps into current affairs.

Three dancers and two Chinese pole acrobats whirl across the set, climbing on poles, sliding off them and balancing on top of each other. The line between humans and animals blurs. Are you watching a heated discussion between top managers or a bunch of bickering monkeys? And what actually lurks behind the desire for power?

Pia Meuthen and her artistic team allowed themselves for ALPHA - the new wildernis inspired by the backgrounds of the banking crisis, analyses of the behaviour of men in top jobs and the work of world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal, among others. The composer duo Strijbos & Van Rijswijk wrote a new composition especially for this performance, which will be sung live by soprano Linde Schinkel.

Credits

Premiere

2014

Choreography

Pia Meuthen

Dance and acrobatics

Francesco Barba, Tobias Spori, Miguel Fiol Duran, Gabriele Manca, Fabian Krestel

Sing

Linde Schinkel

Music composition

Jeroen Strijbos & Rob van Rijswijk

Set design

Katleen Vinck

Costume design

Sanne Reichert

Lighting design

Edwin van Steenbergen

Dramaturgy

Angelique Willkie

Choreographic assistance and training

Miquel de Jong

Production

Panama Pictures in co-production with DansBrabant and Strijbos & van Rijswijk