100% Selfmade / XL

EVER TRIED. EVER FAILED. NO MATTER.
TRY AGAIN. FAIL AGAIN. FAIL BETTER.
(SAMUEL BECKETT).

A group of young men, dancers with varied urban backgrounds and proud of their own special talents and skills, are creating a performance together. 100% Selfmade chronicles a day in their process and the resulting struggle between their individualism and their wish to be part of a group. The performance dons the disguise of a ‘making of’ style documentary.

The day begins with the night before, with a dream sequence in black and white video mixed action on a darkened stage. It then progresses to the dancers’ showy early morning entrances into their theater-workplace. It goes further with a warm-up and a disjointed rehearsal that seems to be going nowhere. As the afternoon wears on, they let themselves be swept along by successive waves of wild creative energy, but are finally confronted with the truth: the premiere is very near but they have no idea what they will show. They push on rehearsing until the announcement comes over the PA system that the audience is already taking their seats. Facing the audience, they must apologize, but then have an afterthought: we can still improvise a great finale!

100% Selfmade is about going outside your comfort zone, letting go of your tough self-image, following your heart, and an uncompromising love for dancing.

DOX, Maas & 155
100% Selfmade is a co-production of DOX and Maas Theater and Dance. DOX is Utrecht’s house for developing talent and makes theater and dance productions for and with young people. Rotterdam-based Maas Theater & Dance creates performances for families, youth and young adults.

DOX and Maas collaborate in this production with the young urban dance makers Erik and Thomas Bos. These brothers are two of the co-founders of the group 155, a creative millipede, held together by their passion for dance, theater and music. As iLL Skill Squad they made a thunderous debut and played in the Lowlands festival, the Dutch Dance Days, and won the DOX Talent Prize and the André Gingras Award.

Choreographer Arthur Rosenfeld about 100% Selfmade
“Hildegard Draaijer and I have been searching for a chance to collaborate on a piece for years now. It is a kind of homecoming, since we share quite some history together. And I am of course excited about working with the 155 boys. 100% Selfmade is about people who set trends instead of following them; people who are one of a kind and authentic. It’s about staying true to your source, how to follow your heart.”