Schwalbe is composed of young graduates in the art of mime from Amsterdam College for the Arts who are fascinated with physical theatre. Their show speaks of the need and desire to be among others, to be lost in the crowd which guarantees the feeling of safety and, at the same time, of fear of surrendering to the majority. Can contemporary societies of individualists still join forces for a common cause and experience?
Suddenly, people are everywhere, with more joining all the time, as if the streets only lead in one direction. Most do not know what has happened, but they hurry anyway to the place where most of the others are.
– from ‘Crowds and Power’ by Elias CanettiIt's fascinating how long you can observe these moving bodies. So simple, so direct, a choreography of a mass.
– Lorianne van Gelder, ****Parool
Seventy performers in a space of ten square meters, you almost cannot believe it. Short, tall, young, old, fat, slim; the group represents all sizes, ages and cultures. But what the real concept is of Schwalbe zoekt massa / Schwalbe seeks mass would be terribly pity to describe... Better go and experience it!
– Moos van den Broek, ****Theaterkrant
Schwalbe
Schwalbe is one of the discoveries of Dutch theatre in recent years. The seven-person group is composed of young graduates in the art of mime from Amsterdam College for the Arts. As they say: “we were brought together not by a shared vision of theatre, but by a need to act collectively”. They create a physical theatre and their every project results from the potential of the body and the meanings it creates on stage. They are interested in the unpredictability of the body in extreme situations. They explore seemingly simple processes and situations which acquire dynamics in order to become a metaphor for general processes.
Concept and performance Christina Flick, Melih Gençboyaci, Marie Groothof, Floor van Leeuwen, Kimmy Ligtvoet, Ariadna Rubio Lleó en Daan Simons | Dutch core group Jose Arnedo, Hüseyin Badilli, Sue-Ann Bel, Merel van den Berge, Gina Beuk, Lennart Blom, Bella Bouman, Margreet Bruining-Lindeijer, Suzanne Dankers, Philomeen Doolaard, Felix Feenstra, Angelika Geronymaki, Wil Hendriks, Brigitte Hoeve, Roosmarijn Mascini, Henk van Osnabrugge, Petra Roelfzema, Omar Sanchez Lopez, Els Schotman, Ytze van der Sluis, Samuel van der Spek, Rick van der Steen, Cristel Stolk, Marjan Tuk, Tiffany Vicario, Petra Visser, Jan Voorwinden, Pien van Welbergen-Danen, Vera Whistler, Vincent van Woerkom en vele anderen
Scenography and technique Joost Giesken, Dave Staring en Marijn van Bussel
Dramaturgy Anoek Nuyens
Production Manager Jasper Hupkens
Photography Arno Bosma and Fanny Hagmeier
Production Productiehuis Rotterdam
Coproduction de Coproducers
Sponsors Massage in Bedrijf, KNOKKI audio technologies.