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TEDxDelft 2016 | Toon Lobach | Modern dance ballet performance

TOON8020Toon Lobach’s dance style was introduced by TEDxDelft presenter Umar Mirza as “jumpy with unexpected turns and twists which work well with the industrial music to which he dances”.

This description was underscored by Lobach’s dramatic entrance via the top tier of TU Delft’s Auditorium which was hauntingly combined with industrial music, jaunty modern dance moves and a striking pair of light blue contact lenses.

His selected choreography evoked at times anger, powerlessness and a desire to protest and challenge the status quo. Dancing among the audience members in a haze of blue light on his descent into the hall and ascent to the podium, Lobach’s choreography gave a stunning preview of the talent and fearlessness of the Nederlands Dans Theater 2’s new apprentice for the 2016-2017 arts season.

Despite training for four years with the 5 O’Clock Class, the preparatory course in modern dance at de Theaterschool, Lobach had no definite dance dream. Everything changed when he saw Nederlands Dans Theater in School of Thought, by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, in 2013. His recollection of that moment was how phenomenal the piece was. He thought “that’s where I have to go!”

Nevertheless, the extremely talented Lobach went for his goal pursuing classes with the 5 O’Clock Class, his regular schooling and ballet classes with the National Ballet Academy. As a student in the National Ballet Academy’s pre-professional program Lobach is also taking classes with de Theaterschool, including Modern Theatre Dance and Urban Contemporary.

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TEDxDelft 2016 | Amsterdam Funk Orchestra | The smell of music

FUNK7874“We dare you to stay put when we play, we guarantee you it’s impossible.” A well-posed dare. Vibrance, vigor, verve, this is what funk is about. All music is dance music, but it is these elements that make dance an unforgettable experience.

Amsterdam Funk Orchestra has indeed pulled this off in style the past few years since its inception in 2014.  A ‘Make it Yourself’ ambition has been their asset in making successful and enthralling music. They have given big band music a new dimension through their funky music with a formal outlook. “Funk is not something you can talk about and then get it, you need to feel it. Rarely do you get the opportunity to feel it and understand it at the same time,” they explained.

“Funk literally means something that smells.” Bonding with the audience for 15 minutes, they went about their orchestrated music mechanics in an overwhelming fashion and were spot on in making their challenge a difficult task. With a strong theme, they went all the way from making us smell the flavors of their music recipe of the day – The Funky Sandwich – and even managed to squeeze in a nod to James Brown.

As the saying goes, “If it is not hard, it is not worth doing it”. And the Amsterdam Funk Orchestra delivered their mechanics in harmony and style, getting the audience out of their chairs in the process.

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TEDxDelft 2013 | Marije Nie – One Million Steps, a tap dancing adventure

Marije Nie, foto Nellie de BoerMarije Nie is a musician with her feet, a dancing percussionist. Her tap dance style is the perfect symbiosis between music and dance. The rhythm dictates the movement and the movement determines the sound. She feels at home in many different kinds of music: jazz, improvisated music, worldmusic, (contemporary) classic music, experimental electronica and dance. In 2007 she won the Jur Naessens Musiekprijs for innovation in music. With her skills for improvisation and her passion for experiments, she created her unique niche between composed and improvised music.

At TEDxDelft she will present her tap dance adventure, the film One Million Steps.
This film is about where the millions of steps we take in our lives take us. – Do we just automatically follow our path or are we open for new challenges and creative choices? Read more

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