Landscaping

Landscaping is an interdisciplinary research and performance series in which a group of artists explore the relationship between humans and the constantly changing environment by movement and traces people leave behind. The Landscaping series consists of an event at Tolhuistuin on August 5th 2021, the premiere in Amsterdamse Bos from 31 August to 4 September 2021 and the publication Moving beyond the landscape by landscape architecture scholar Daphne Bakker.

The landscape is there. It breathes sounds waves roars. It constantly changes its form. To what extend do we embody the landscape and is the landscape defined by us? How do body and landscape set each other in motion? Landscaping is a dance production by WhyNot, created with landscape architect Anna Fink, researcher of (landscape) architecture Daphne Bakker, choreographers Dario Tortorelli, Elisa Zuppini & Nica, composer and producer Job Oberman (alias Oceanic) and scenographer Theun Mosk.

For Landscaping, WhyNot brings together a collective of artists from various corners of the cultural field, whose work is centered around the body. After weeks of research they stage a series of interlinked performance interventions against the green backdrop of the Amsterdamse Bos. With physical connections, disruptions, rhythms, rituals, and changing sightlines they explore the continuous construction of the land. From these different perspectives, a new outcome emerges; you'll never see the Amsterdamse Bos in the same way again.

The audience takes place in a spatial installation by scenographer Theun Mosk that will define our gaze and perspective. For their piece, choreography duo Elisa Zuppini & Nica examined how human emotions relate to the natural environment, while choreographer Dario Tortorelli chose to zoom in on the rhythms that can be found in nature. Composer and producer Job Oberman (Oceanic) records and distorts natural noise to create new sound experiences. He seeks the interaction and connection between birdsong and human language, in which we, as visitors in a landscape, gain a better understanding of nature.

Since 2017, contemporary dance and performance platform WhyNot has initiated a series in which the body and dance are connected to a different discipline in order to foster exchange and cross-disciplinary practices. In this series WhyNot investigates the human body and its movement in relation to space, previously focusing on the amoeba, the first form of life and building block of the body. From the micro to the macro, Landscaping zooms out to examine the body in relation to our natural environment by means of movement and the traces people leave behind.

Credits:

Idea & Production: WhyNot (Daisy Benz & Marjolein Vogels)

Concept: Job Oberman, Theun Mosk, Dario Tortorelli, Elisa Zuppini & Nica Roses

Choreography: Dario Tortorelli in collaboration with Performers: Nicole van den Berg, Roberta Maimone, Liah Frank

Choreography & Performance: Elisa Zuppini & Nica Roses

Sound Installation & Music Composition: Job Oberman (Oceanic), Trumpetist: Thijs van der Geest

Scenography: Theun Mosk

Landscape Architect: Anna Maria Fink

Costumes: Martina Bauer

Technicians: Manuel Boutreur (lighting), Ted Grindei (sound)

Artistic Advice: Keren Levi

Publication: Daphne Bakker, Graphic Design Publication: Sam Velenne Reith

Publicity: Daisy Benz, Mayke Klomp, Iris Peters

Production Manager: Charlot van der Meer

Production Assistant: Norma Schiphof

Publicity & Production Assistant: Vera Goetzee

Front of House Volunteer: Neda Rujeva

Graphic Design Campaign: Angela Lidderdale

A WhyNot production in collaboration with Amsterdamse Bostheater, Korzo, Ruimtetijd & Tolhuistuin

With the support of: Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, BNG Cultuurfonds, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie

MOVING BEYOND THE LANDSCAPE

As part of the WhyNot production Landscaping, WhyNot presents the publication Moving Beyond the Landscape by researcher of (landscape)architecture Daphne Bakker. Bakker is amongst the artists participating in Landscaping and has reconnected her conclusions with those of the collective. From a personal fascination for dance and movement in relation to nature, Bakker considers the interactions between body and land, what makes them so essential, and asks how the body and dance can play a role in our perception of landscapes.