In the dance production Terts, premiere on 7 April 2005 in the Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, choreographers Andrea Leine and Harijono Roebana worked with the Maarten Altena Ensemble. In Terts all the music is specially written or adapted for the performance and the interaction between music and dance is given shape in continually changing groups of musicians and dancers. The ensemble of nine musicians, playing in combinations ranging from electric guitar and trombone to treble recorder and percussion, breathes new life into music by old masters of the Renaissance and Baroque. Pure, calm music that switches to wild, contrasting and compelling sounds and rhythms. Leine & Roebana and the Maarten Altena Ensemble have found each other in their use of capricious contrasts; contrasts, however, which reinforce each other, thereby emphasising an underlying unity and continuity.
In 2003, Leine & Roebana had a very productive and successful collaboration with the Maarten Altena Ensemble, resulting in the production TURINGS TIJGERS, which was selected by the Nederlandse Dansdagen (Dutch Dance Days) 2003 as one of the best performances of the season.
Choreography: Andrea Leine and Harijono Roebana
Composers: Maarten Altena, Erik Satie
Dance: Ty Boomershine, Uri Eugenio, Sarah Linstra, Ching-Yao Lo, Patricia Machado, Tim Persent, Lia Poole, Heather Ware, Sau-Ching Wong
Musicians of the Maarten Altena Ensemble: Jussi Jaatinen (conductor), Jelte van Andel (contrabass), Karolina Bäter (recorders), Noa Frenkel (voice), Reinier van Houdt (piano), Wiek Hijmans (electric guitar), Koen Kaptijn (trombone), Michel Marang (clarinet), Hans van der Meer (percussion), Anna Mc Michael (violin)
Theatre design : Thonik
Costumes: AZIZ
Light design : Peter Romkema
Premiere: 7 april 2005, Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
The press about Terts:
"Exciting mix of dance and music in Terts" (Utrechts Nieuwsblad)
"Movement fragments in glaring scenery" (Het Financieele Dagblad)
Utrechts Nieuwsblad, 9 April 2005
Exciting mix of dance and music in Terts
“In Leine & Roebana’s new production Terts (= the musical interval of a third from the tonic), for once the musicians do not play a supporting role. Besides being moved from the pit to the stage, they also move with the dancers through the space.
Terts is another production by this choreographers’ duo that revolves around the interaction between music and capricious movements. They collaborated once again with the Maarten Altena Ensemble, with whom they made the successful Turings Tijgers last season. It may not be a new concept, but the mix of musicians and dancers is made extra exciting in Terts by the equality in numbers (nine dancers and nine musicians) and in costumes, with everybody wearing the orange jackets designed by Aziz. Although these are reminiscent of a barber’s apron (closed at the front and open at the back), this fact does not detract from the beautiful effect these flowing costumes create when moving around the stage. Also magnificent is the enormous honeycomb-shaped light object by Thonik, which folds up or expands with the scene changes, altering the colour of the light. Apart from this, Terts is a modern dance performance without many trimmings.
The contemporary music, which ranges from soft humming notes to very loud pulses and a sudden electric guitar solo, shrouds the capricious dance in an ominous atmosphere. This is reinforced by the mournfulness of the Chinese text spoken by the dancer Sau-Ching Wong. Her solo is tenuously beautiful, and every sigh is audible. In changing formations, the nine dancers perform phrases in a sensual dance language full of surprising twists and turns. This dance language is beautiful and matches the music well. In between, the musicians break away from the ensemble. A clarinettist has a tête-à-tête with a female dancer, who approaches him with puffed-up cheeks. These amusing incidents lighten up the predominantly serious piece”.
Tamara Keasberry
Terts, by Leine & Roebana, seen: 7 April (premiere) Stadsschouwburg Utrecht.
Deen van Meer
.