A performance in an installation. A place that’s somewhere between a garden, a hospital and a cemetery. Two young people intertwine the lives of each of their families. In the middle of an archive of personal documents that have been collected over many years, they navigate their way through a landscape of loss. In LAST PORTRAIT, Ashley Ho and Domenik Naue combine text, sound, dance and visual poetry into a performance that both searches for and invents a space: a space that is permeable, fleeting and adaptable enough to deal with loss, grief and letting go. “Being part of a generation that is very aware of loss,” they say, “we obsessively follow the changes happening, knowing full well that documenting the present, what is there, also shifts the focus onto what could disappear. How can we move forward without getting lost in nostalgia or getting stuck out of fear of loss?”
Ho Yuhan Ashley, *1999 in Singapore, and Domenik Naue, *1998 in Germany, met during their training in dance at the ArtEZ University in Arnhem, the Netherlands, which they completed in 2022. They understand performance as a social practice and their work as a suggestion for how to face tough realities through vulnerability and playfulness. They have been working together for more than five years. LAST PORTRAIT is part of this ongoing artistic dialogue, which is shaped by the places it happens in.
With Ashley Ho, Domenik Naue
Concept, Performance, Sound & Visual Design Ashley Ho, Domenik Naue
Scenography with support from Lena Michel van Drie, Pam Sikkink Dramaturgy Elowise Vandenbroecke Styling Cain Wittenhaus Technical & Lighting Support Edwin van Steenbergen Technical Director on tour Martin Kaffarnik Video Paul Sixta Production & Public Relations Dansateliers Tour-Management Kira Koplin Co-production Dansateliers, SPRING Festival, Over het IJ Photo Ardy Cahyo, Monia Pavoni, Natascha Zander, Amanda Harput (Portrait Ashley Ho, Domenik Naue) In collaboration with Oriente Occidente, Dance Nucleus, Studio Plesungan Financial support from Asia-Europe Foundation, Fund Performing Arts NL, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Janivo Stichting, Van den Ende Foundation Process Guidance Gabriel Pietro Marullo Thanks to Roelroel and Gary Shepherd for the technical support with the sound
LAST PORTRAIT was created with support from the Nieuwe Makers Regeling programme of the Performing Arts Fund Netherlands and in collaboration with Dansateliers and the SPRING Performing Arts Festival in Utrecht. The performances during Fast Forward take place with support from the Snelloket grant from the Performing Arts Fund Netherlands.
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