We’ve been selected as one of the ‘makers of now’ for the platform In Art We Trust Fund.

This is an initiative of We Are Public, a cultural subscription-program that offers a curated program of shows and art events for it’s members. 

In it’s current adapted version, they chose every month fifteen makers from various disciplines and the members-fees go directly to support the artists. We’re very proud to have been selected. The financial contribution is very welcome of course, but mainly it’s a wonderful way to stay connected to our audience.  

If you are a member of We Are Public you can login and ‘heart’ our page, this will increase the contribution we get 🙂

New online content

For the past few months the only way to experience dance has been on screen. This sudden shift has made the camera a necessary intermediary between the dancer and the audience. 

Indulging in our fascination with this medium and acknowledging this new reality, we’ve been exploring new ways of capturing physicality and choreographing through a lens.

This has lead to two little projects:

VOLITION 1 – a durational video experiment

In this work we let the intuitive moving body interact directly with the video format, without the mitigation of a ‘traditional’ choreography. Like our latest production 60, this video is exactly one hour long. It can be viewed in parts or played in the background, revisited over the duration. Of course you are also welcome to watch the whole thing 😉 

Half-Life 

Our fascination with the concept of time has often lead us to want to capture movement by freezing it in photos, something that can’t be done live.

Half-Life is a short choreography of still images. 

We hope you are all well and healthy, and we hope to see you soon. Warm greets, OFFprojects – Amos, Aurélie, Milena, Gen and Yvan

We are extremely happy to share that OFFprojects got a positive advice on our application for structural funding from the city of The Hague. Pending final approval by the municipality, the support will be for the period 2021-24.

This backwind will allow us to develop our projects with more continuity and sustainability, while also developing a broader audience for our work (and hopefully for dance in general). In this time of uncertainty it is wonderful to be able to look forward to a possible future of creative opportunities and exciting challenges. 

UNFORTUNATELY SOME SHOWS HAD TO BE POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19. We are all looking to find alternate performance dates, as we really want to share this evening with you. We will keep you updated here, on facebook and instagram. Check the agenda for details of new dates and a link to the theater to find out what to do with your current show ticket.

The tour of 60 has started! After a great kick-off of two shows at Korzo Theater in Den Haag, we’re now travelling through the country. 

Xanthe van Opstal, brand new to the cast, has had her premiere and is now fully part of the adventure.

In selected cities, interdisciplinary artist Gosse de Kort will be giving a short lecture: time and form in movement. These will be giving shortly before the show and are about 30 minutes long. Each city has a special hometown guest that will partake in this conversation. For details check the agenda.

In addition, the performance-installation Seconds will be remounted in Frascati. You can go see the 15min performance before and after the show.

“Slowly but surely, the small, staccato movements become more pronounced.  And just as a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day, sometimes the seemingly erratic movements come together into something resembling a consistent choreography.

It’s a fascinating scene, and a good platform for Ben-Tal’s singular dance moves: graceful yet sharp, unpredictable yet coherent.

.” Bregtje Schudel, 2019, movementexposed.com

“The movements are initially investigative and discovering, later they become more exuberant […] but never aimed at virtuosity. They are given a headstrong, playful quality: soft and elegant, sometimes pedantic. This gives the strict perception of time in 60 a humorous counterbalance. Add the traditional way in which the choreographer puts his dancers in the space and you get a tasteful, versatile representation of a thinking dancer.” Dick van Teylingen, 2019, Theaterkrant.nl

Photography: Alwin Poiana

On Tuesday July 2nd, our new piece 60 will have its première as part of the International festival Julidans in Amsterdam. For 60 we started a unique collaboration with the dance-company ICK Amsterdam. Together we will take the audience on a meditative journey that reflects on the social constructs and personal experience of time.

“Something to look forward to in Julidans: the 60-minute version of 30. About ticking time. ”Volkskrant, 2018

60 is the result of a long-term study of the concept of time that previously resulted in the short piece 30 and Seconds (2019), reviewed as: “An impressive dance installation. What Ben-Tal does with one’s perception of space, time and human interaction is extremely fascinating.” … Trouw * * * *

Curious?
The ticketsales of Julidans starts on April 18th.
Make sure to check it out. More info and tickets here.

In the recent Cadance Festival in The Hague we presented our new performance-installation Seconds. It’s an intimate work for an audience of only 20, where the public takes an active part in determining the experience. Although confronting, the piece was extremely well received and people seemed to embrace the questions it raised in them. For that we couldn’t be more happy. The press also responded well to Seconds, with positive reviews coming from Trouw, NRC, Theaterkrant and Artstalk Magazine (English). We hope to be able to share this work with you again soon.

“An impressive dance installation. What Ben-Tal does with one’s perception of space, time and human interaction is extremely fascinating.” … Trouw * * * *

We’d like to thank everyone that joined us for ‘Just Once’ in Korzo Theater on Friday April 13th. For those of you who could not make it, here are some words and images in order to get an impression. It was a very special event for us: literally a once in a life time moment. A confronting and exciting experience and a joy to share new dance, texts and music with all of you. We revisited the piece Ziggurat (originally from 2007), showed a sneak preview of our new project ’60′ and played brand new songs of Noblesse. Sharing this work with you inspired us to continue working and we are looking forward to getting back to creating. Keep an eye out for us! For now, thank you all for your support, attention and inspiration!

Podium Dans is NPO Cultura’s weekly dance-program. The program features different choreographers and artistic directors of prominent dance-companies from the Netherlands.  In the week of November 6th, Podium Dans was fully dedicated to Amos’ work and to OFFprojects. Several weeks ago the camera crew visited a rehearsal of Howl prior to the performance in Theatre Ins Blau in Leiden. They did an interview in order to shed light on our various productions, inspirations and the unique working method we utilize as a collective. You can watch the episode here.

For the newspaper De Gelderlander, Bianca Hendriks interviewed Amos about our performance HOWL. Read the full interview here. (Dutch only)

On August 29 to 31st, we performed Howl at the Zeeland Nazomerfestival in Middelburg. We were invited to present the piece in the building of Waterschap Scheldestromen. The huge windows gave us a beautiful back drop that offered us and the audience a direct view over the canal and the  city. We thank everyone for three amazing sharings. And thank those who left us with their great feedback after the performance and online.

“I am still speechless after seeing HOWL at Zeeland Nazomerfestival. We were seated on stage. And that was awesome. We did not only see the performers from closeby but we even felt the air moving when they passed by. And then the beautiful music by Spinvis… I will not give away the rest. Go see for yourself when you have the chance!” – audience member about Howl at Zeeland Nazomerfestival

In October-December we continue our Dutch theatre-tour. Make sure you order your tickets in time. Check out the tourdates in the agenda.