The Dutch Eurythmy Dance Ensemble – DeDae for short – is entering its second year. Within a short period of time, DeDae has become one of the most productive professional groups for stage eurythmy. A conversation with Gia van den Akker and Roos Naves from the Netherlands.
How was your ensemble born?
Two movements came together to give birth to this ensemble. Each of the six ensemble members had a connection to Gia van den Akker. At the same time, there was a donation from the Anthroposophical Society and Foundation in the Netherlands to provide sustained help for stage eurythmy locally, and especially the next generation. Subsequently Gia met Roos Naves ‹by chance›, the chemistry was right, and Roos joined the project as manager. After a year of online preparations, things got underway in September 2021.
What are the biggest tasks in your everyday life as independent artists?
A challenging task right now is working together on a concept that involves more than one topic and to find texts and musical compositions for it. In the first year we created a ‹still form› from the experiences of the coronavirus period. Now we want to develop our story further with the topic ‹Earth›. That means we create using phenomenological material, using personal experiences together with people from music and literature. Another challenge is to tackle the ever-growing task of communication, coordination and so on together, to remain a unit in this respect and to strengthen it with combined forces. We want to keep our strong energy, we must always remain alert to do so. Alert to both the questions from outside and the social questions of the ensemble.
What is your big dream for the next year?
We dream of entering into dialogue with more target groups and people, continuing to develop eurythmy as an art form, and encountering people in movement through workshops. We have discovered the field of funerals and grief counseling and are making interactive appearances at various farms this spring. We dream of awakening young people’s interest in this art so that they will train in it. We want to collaborate with other artists. Then we live – in the words of Joseph Beuys – art as «capital».
DeDae will go on tour with the new programme from the 8th to the 26th of March 2023.
More Dutch Eurythmy Dance Ensemble
Translation Christian von Arnim
Image Eurythmy Ensemble DeDae (Dutch Eurythmy Dance Ensemble), Photo: Tessa Veldhorst
