Nederlands Dans Theater 2

Climb the sky introduces two inspiring new voices to the company, choreographers Noé Soulier and Botis Seva, marking choreographer Crystal Pite's first collaboration with the NDT 2 dancers for her workTen Duets on a Theme of Rescue (2013).

Crystal Pite - Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue

"I love the word 'salvation'. It tells a whole story in a single word,' says internationally renowned choreographer Crystal Pite. Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue (2008) was originally created for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Climb the sky marks Pite's first collaboration with the dancers of NDT 2 and also marks the premiere of the work with the company. “The creation of this work was an act of excavation. After I had built up the choreography, I searched the choreography for images that evoked salvation; images that were already present in the movements as fragments of an untold story,” says Pite. In each of the ten duets, an image of salvation is stored and held for a brief moment of reflection before being released back into the dance.

Pite has been an associate choreographer with NDT since 2008 and has extended her commitment to the company for the next four years. For NDT Pite created Pilot X (2005), Plot Point (2010, nominated for the prestigious Benois de La Dance), Solo Echo (2012), and The Statement (2016). Her most recent work premiered in May 2022 and is the start of a longer collaboration with NDT, Complicité Theater, and artistic director Simon McBurney.

Noé Soulier - World premiere
French choreographer Noé Soulier questions the way we perceive and interpret gestures and explores dance through different techniques. In projects such as the book Actions, mouvements et gestes, and the 2013 work Mouvement sur movement, Soulier introduces a discrepancy between the discourse and the gestures that accompany it. In this way he tries to activate the physical memory of the audience through movements that refer to absent objects or events.

Soulier studied at the CNSMD of Paris, the National Ballet School of Canada and P.A.R.T.S. In Brussels. He obtained a master's degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne and participated in a residency program at the Palais de Tokyo: Le Pavillon. In 2010 he won the Danse Élargie prize from the Théâtre de la Ville and Musée de la Danse. Soulier was an associate artist at the Toulouse / Occitanie National Center for Choreographic Development from 2016 to 2018 and at the National Dance Center in Pantin from 2014 to 2019. In July 2020, he became director of the CNDC in Angers, a unique institution in the dance world that combines a creative choreographic center, a school of contemporary dance and a program of dance presentations. Soulier makes his debut with the company with this new work.

Botis Seva - World Premiere
Acclaimed artist Botis Seva is an award-winning dancer, choreographer and director who works in the fields of hip-hop, physical theater and contemporary dance. He uses autobiographical experiences to tell a story and is influenced by various disciplines such as film, visual arts and other dance forms that help him develop his own language.

Seva danced with the company Avant Garde before founding his own company Far From The Norm, known for its compelling work that experiments with hip hop and challenges dance theater conventions. In 2018, Seva choreographed Winged Bull in the Elephant Case for Wayne McGregor and Robin Friends, which premiered on BBC 2. He also worked on BLKDOG as part of Reckonings celebrating the 20th anniversary of Sadler's Wells, which he will perform in 2019 won the Olivier award for Best New Dance Production. This new work is his first collaboration with NDT.