Why does dance move us? Dance is pure, dance is emotion, dance is culture. Dance is speech without words. Puur-Barbaars is a voyage of discovery, an attempt to trace the essence of movement and rhythm. Rhythm like the tap dance that runs like a tangible and audible thread through the whole performance, the heartbeat of Puur-Barbaars.
In Puur-Barbaars, young dancers react to traditional dance forms from all over the world on the basis of their own cultural background. They set off together in search of a universal language that speaks to and unites us all. Their contemporary energy and expression tell us about the rhythm that has retained its vitality unchanged throughout the ages and that constantly generates new dance forms. The present fed by the past. The basic elements of movement that are innate in every human being and are still present in dance, no matter what the age of the dancer. Rhythm was once and will always be. Rhythm is pure. Rhythm is barbaric.
Puur-Barbaars is a colourful mix of motifs from fifty years of the Internationaal Danstheater, translated to the present day: an interplay of short fragments, spectacular group numbers, traditional folk dance and contemporary choreography.
Choreographers: Lonneke van Leth, Alida Dors, Ezequiel Sanucci, Desiree Rebel (traditional)
Concept / director: Jos Groenier
Music: Hans Visser
World premiere: 13 December 2011, Lucent Danstheater, The Hague, The Netherlands
