World tour Last Touch First

Last Touch First, acclaimed by the NRC Handelsblad the best dance production of 2007, is to embark on a world tour. This initiative by Michael Schumacher, Sabine Kupferberg, Jirí Kylián and the Holland Dance Festival begins on 27 March in Russia and travels on to various large dance festivals in Europe such as  Impulz Tanz in Vienna and the Athens Festival. The production will return in September for a brief tour of theatres in the Netherlands.

Slow motion never traveled so fast. The dance production Last Touch First, widely acclaimed in the press, has been programmed by large dance festivals in Europe. The Holland Dance Festival production is based on improvisational systems that Michael Schumacher had demonstrated in The Moment, an earlier performance for the Nederlands Dans Theater III. The original intention was that Schumacher would create a duet for himself and Sabine Kupferberg; this idea grew into a dance production of a respectable size, with the piece Last Touch by Jirí Kylián as basis. Finally, Schumacher created a new production together with Kylián which premiered on 12 February 2008 in Korzo theatre in The Hague.

photo: Robert Benschop

Last Touch First

Last Touch First tells of six people who each go their own way, without losing sight of each other for even a moment. The dance performance affords the audience an intimate look into the lives of three couples that try to find each other’s limits and test them. Situated in a world reminiscent of the 19th century, a tale is told of life and death, happiness and sorrow, feelings of belonging and loneliness. The press wrote earlier about the performance, “an intimate and poignant performance in which despair, madness, and loneliness deeply affects the six characters. The dancers move almost an hour long in extreme slow motion through a 19th century environment reminiscent of the grotesque plays by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.” © Ingrid van Frankenhuyzen, preview Last Touch First,  NRC Handelsblad, 8 November 2007
  

Dansers

De Holland Dance Production Last Touch First will de danced in 2009 by Michael Schumacher, Sabine Kupferberg, Cora Bos-Croese, Elke Schepers, David Krugel and Vaclav Kunes; all former dancers of the Nederlands Dans Theater.

Michael Schumacher

The versatile dance artist Michael Schumacher is a master of improvisation. He has displayed this mastery in performances at the Holland Dance Festival with partners such as Sylvie Guillem. He has danced with Frankfurt Ballett, Twyla Tharp Dance, Feld Ballet and the Pretty Ugly Dance Company. He has danced for Peter Sellars as a guest artist, and with dancers such as Dana Caspersen en Anouk van Dijk. Schumacher has also been active as a choreographer for some time. Other activities include performances with Magpie Music Dance Company, a collective of improvisational artists established in the nation’s capital, and giving workshops in movement analysis and improvisation technique.

Jirí Kylián

For over thirty years Jirí Kylián has been the resident choreographer of the Nederlands Dans Theater. His works are seen and spoken highly of all over the world. Choreographies created by Kylián grace the repertoire of almost all leading dance companies of the world. The choreographer also has a long and rich history with the Holland Dance Festival. His opening performance was the kick off for the Nederlands Dans Theater III in 1991, and the program “Celebrating Kylián” (by the Nederlands Dans Theater II) was the opening of the tenth edition of the Holland Dance Festival.

Playlist Last Touch First tour

27-28 march - Golden Mask Festival - Moskou  
http://www.goldenmask.ru/

23-24 may - Festival Nethworks.cz - Praag  
http://www.nethworks.cz/

2-4 july - Athens Festival - Athene  
http://www.greekfestival.gr/

21-24 july - Impulz Tanz Festival - Wenen  
http://www.impulstanz.com/

14 september - Stadschouwburg - Amsterdam 
http://www.stadsschouwburgamsterdam.nl/

17 september - Diligentia - Den Haag 
http://www.theater-diligentia.nl/

26 september - Grand Theater - Groningen 
http://www.grand-theatre.nl/

28 september - Erholungshaus - Leverkusen       http://www.culture.bayer.com/en/erholungshaus.aspx

29-30 september - Grand Theater - Luxembourg 
http://www.theatres.lu/

2-3 october - Mousonturm - Frankfurt 
http://www.mousonturm.de/

11 october - Rotterdamse Schouwburg - Rotterdam 
http://www.schouwburg.rotterdam.nl/

15-16 october - Suzan Dellal Centre - Tel Aviv
http://www.suzannedellal.org.il/

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Note for the editors
For more information and photo material:

Holland Dance Festival
Marijt Helmink (coordinator marketing & communication)
070 361 61 42
marijt@hollanddancefestival.com
www.hollanddancefestival.com

Holland Dance Productions
The organization of the Holland Dance Festival offers companies and dancers, with and outside the framework of the festival, the opportunity to create new productions and to present them nationally and internationally.