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Hold Your Horses

A coproduction of De Dansers and Theater Strahl Berlin

Hold Your Horses is an energetic and sensitive dance concert about the desire to hold on. De Dansers tell their story with twelve hands, including the accompanying bodies, and a few guitars. We see hands grasping, mistaking, touching, taking off, falling down and plucking guitar strings. We see passion and distance. We don’t see horses, although we do feel them. We see an unconstrained dance party, where the cry for help slowly creeps in.

Hold Your Horses is about the urge to hold on to something or someone, in a world that is becoming increasingly elusive. With a spectacular, acrobatic movement language, six performers trot on with full dedication, without losing human sensitivity. Suddenly we meet a personal dance solo, or we abruptly feel the tension between the group and the individual. As one body, the dancers move in a continuous flow, propelled by Guy Corneille’s live music full of compelling guitar compositions and moving songs.

 

Hold Your Horses is no longer touring in The Netherlands. In 2024 only in Berlin at our co-producer Theater Strahl Berlin:
26, 27, 29 & 30 April and 19, 20, 21, 22 June 2024
> Theater Strahl, Ostreuz unten (DE).

 

“As always  in the irresistible dance concerts by De Dansers from Utrecht, the atmosphere starts out playful and casual. Gradually a cry for help creeps in, the fear of losing grip.” ★★★★ – de Volkskrant

In Hold Your Horses we meet a pleasantly mixed cast, who create a playful and relaxed atmosphere, but at the same time work with focus and collaborate accurately . It is nice that all performers contribute to the choreography as well as to the sound: they clap rhythms, play drums and master the harmonica.” – Het Parool

“There is an intriguing friction in Hold Your Horses, the latest performance by De Dansers […]. It is so easy to be swept away by the passionate and high-spirited dancers and musician Guy Corneille’s comforting sounds. But when I take the theme of the piece into account, looking for something to hold onto in a volatile world, comfort is exactly what is in short supply.” – Movement Exposed – Critical Space

“Hold Your Horses by De Dansers can be seen as an ode to our versatile, longing arms, as well as a cry for help in an increasingly elusive world.” – NRC

“It is the group dynamics that play a central role in the urge to hold on to something or someone that Hold Your Horses is all about. This dynamic is given the space to develop because each dancer presents a personality, and their urge becomes a party with De Dansers without having to fear the hangover of tomorrow. Together they find the joy that doesn’t want to go anywhere but the here and now.” – Theaterkrant

 

Supported by:
 

     

 

Choreography Josephine van Rheenen
Music (live) Guy Corneille
Made with and performed by Yeli Beurskens, Liam McCall, Youri Peters, Arturo Vargas, Marie Khatib-Shahidi, Guy Corneille
Stage and light design Timme Afschrift
Sound engineer Chieljan van der Hoek, Jorn Kortooms
Dramaturgy Moniek Merkx
Costume advice Nicky Nina de Jong
Production support Theater Strahl Berlin 
Anna Vera Kelle, Florian Bilbao
Production Danae Bos
Business management Miriam Gilissen
Education Sanne Wichman, Florian Bilbao
Marketing and publicity Lizzy Schreijer
Acquisition Frontaal Theaterbureau
Artwork 75B
With support from Gemeente Utrecht, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, K.F. Hein Fonds, Fonds 21, Schäxpir Festival


Upcoming performances

Theater Strahl Berlin, Ostkreuz unten (DE)

Theater Strahl Berlin, Ostkreuz unten (DE)

Theater Strahl Berlin, Ostkreuz unten (DE)

Theater Strahl Berlin, Ostkreuz unten (DE)

Theater Strahl Berlin, Ostkreuz unten (DE)

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