Listen,
I think, the days of conceptual dance performances are over.
It has become too masculine & mental, and too much an attempt to present yourself as the most intelligent one in the contemporary dance field.
Yes, i am convinced, it is definitely time for a new diva body spirit in the dance.
Yes, let’s celebrate a body on stage, which is not afraid to be feminine, charismatic and seductive.
A body, which is ultimately sexy, plays with gender issues.
Most of all a body which is totally intrigued by mastering the skills of the performing arts, without questioning them all the time.

Is it possible to bring the magic back in contemporary dancing without becoming conservative, nostalgic or campy?

What about you?
Are you diva-proof?

Robert Steijn

The Diva Body
How does it function this system of becoming a diva? Why did classical performing art-forms as opera and ballet institutionalize this star-system so rigorously? And why is there in contemporary dance, theatre and the visual arts  a curiosity to act and behave like a diva on stage?

The symposium aims for a celebration of, and an investigation of the performativity of the divine female body.  A research in actions as adoration/devotion/ cultivation going beyond the human related to women who perform. Three workshops, lectures, interviews, performances, movies, catwalk shows and a party are the components of the symposium.

The SNDO in collaboration with the Melkweg Theatre and the research group Art Practice and Development held a thematic clock called The Diva Body from 19 May to 6 June 2008. During the symposium there were three workshops for students of the SNDO and eventually some students of Dance Unlimited and Modern Theatre Dance were invited to participate.

The stars of these two nights were:
Laxmi Narayan Tripati, Joke Dame, Deborah Hay , David Zambrano, Conny  Groenewegen, Leon Amsterdam, Pauline de Groot, Quirine Racke, Helena Muskens, Erik McKenzie, Diana Gadish, Rodrigo Sobarzo, Liisa Pentti, Alma Soederberg, Javier Murugarren, Elisabeth Boender, Melkorka Magnusdottir, Roger Sala Reyner, Robert Steijn, Noha Ramadan, Roberta Marques, Liat Waysbort, Katerina Bakatsaki, Alec Smart, Lily Kiara, Anja Müller, Gonnie Heggen, Eileen Standley, Monica Page among others.