TWOOLS at the opera

TWOOLS 12 takes place during Operadagen Rotterdam. For this edition, the fixed concept is being turned upside down: Whereas in previous TWOOLS editions the choreographers were given complete freedom to create a work - as long as it lasted no more than ten minutes - TWOOLS At The Opera is a total concept by Hans Tuerlings. He calls it an "Opéra de Danse".

Within it, Ed Wubbe, Loïc Perela, Lucas Jervies, Alessandro Perreira and Tuerlings himself provide a total of twelve choreographies. In an interview with dance critic Marcelle Schots, Wubbe says that he finds it exciting to use a different approach, but that it can also be liberating for the choreographers to surrender to a fixed concept: "Because the preconditions are known, you have to be inventive in a different way. That opens the way to other ways of thinking. TWOOLS At The Opera must deliver a performance that would not otherwise come about'.

Tuerlings is writing his dance opera to music by Puccini, Verdi, Bellini and other (Italian) composers. The show revolves around the passion for dance. The story in brief: a choreographer discovers that one of his dancers finds herself more beautiful than nature. This shocks him. To restore order, he plots a dance murder, to make room for new dance. The story of the murder of Julius Caesar is an important source of inspiration.

Sherida Lie dances the connecting role. Visual artist Hans Wap designs the stage set and Pamela Homoet designs the costumes - her red dressing gowns for the dancers are frequently seen in newspaper photographs.

Dance Europe calls TWOOLS At The Opera "a fruitful marriage between dance and arias" (Ali Mahbouba).