Since his first professional production Natieven in 1989 the work of Feri de Geus can be described as multidisciplinary, dancers speak, actors and singers who dance, etc. The first years he worked in choroegrapher’s collective Coup d’Amour with the successful productions La Forteresse and Sunday and the collectively made Rien.
The first professional production Natieven was immediately a very successful one. Consisting of a remarkable tableau of three dancers, two singers, and five pigeons the performance generally deals with the concept of love.The first part or prologue has been inspired by the story of the phoenix and was performed during the Dutch choreography competition in Groningen in 1990. It won the Prize of the Audience. The prologue Natieven has since been revived in an elaborated cast of five dancers and presented by students of the Dance Academy in Rotterdam in 1993 and 1999. In 2003, it became part of the repertoire of Durban based Phenduka Dance Theatre in South Africa which was performed in cultural centres in Kwazulu Natal Province.
“With Natieven Feri de Geus creates a strong performance”
“…The three [men] with naked torsos perform an amazing choreography on the small surface of wooden pillars, self-assured and powerful…”
“…After a few minutes African rhythmic voices appear and the movements become richer in variation and the rhythm accelerates. The three leave their small surface to meet each other in the theatre space. The atmosphere between the men is challenging, cheeky and a bit homo-erotic…”
“…One of the female singers hangs upside down on the neck of a male, singing ‘Ein Freund, ein guter Freund, das ist das höchste was es gibt auf der Welt’. But these men are trying to find their own way and are not waiting for (these)women…”
Volkskrant, Gerdie Snellers
La Forteresse is Inspired by notions about filmmaking of the French cineaste Jean Luc Godard, It seeks to translate the informal and transparency of dance to theatre. There is no story line, only a fundamental concept to build different ideas about dance. The novel Women in the Sand by Kobo Abe and the famous film adaptation of the novel, serve as guidelines for different images dealing mostly with the both vigorous and intimate clash between the sexes. Cryptic text, live-music and one hundred sandbags set the tone, which is reflective rather than imaginary.
“Lively eruptions of energy, silent modesty, supple cat-like movements: a dynamic stage set full of surprising turns. Breathtaking are the risks the dancers take: a timing in fractions of seconds.”
Brabantia, Frans Mulder
“There is a lot of talking going on. They encourage, challenge, instigate and fool one another constantly. The playfulness in which this takes place is refreshing: a frolicsome gang. The tempo is fast and the timing sharp”.
Telegraaf, Chris Houtman
Rien, a hunting game in three parts inspired by the oeuvre of popular artist Rien Poortvliet.
The video shows a duet from the production. It is recorded in HD and was the first ever recorded dance clip in HD format in the Netherlands.
Zondag is based on the novel Fratelli by Carmelo Samona, motivated by the ill treatment of psychiatric patients in the seventies in Italy. In his book Samona describes the relationship between a healthy man and his mentally ill brother who share a large apartment. Both brothers seem to speak their own language, but in particular the ‘healthy’ brother lovingly tries to comprehend the realm of thoughts of his ‘ill’ brother by playing physical games. The relationship between the brothers is reflected and deepened by the appearance of a woman. The performance works like a movie as the audience crosses the theatre hall on a mobile platform to zoom into different rooms of the apartment.
“…Zondag is delightfully amusing dance theatre. The playful contribution of the brothers and the dramatic inner conflicts of the woman come together in a balanced performance which aptly portrayes the different moods and characters…”
Algemeen Dagblad, Roy van der Graaf
“…De Geus not only creates beautiful, flowing and athletic dance, he also has the capacity to add meaning to movement. The use of a moving stand, which enables the audience to watch the performance from every conceivable angle, adds an extra dimension to Zondag…”
Utrechts Nieuwsblad, Alette van Doggenaar
“…The life of two brothers takes shape via a spiritual language of movement with beautiful ingenious components. The relationship between the two brothers is intense and develops into a unity of two which expresses itself in playfully ironic, irritating and support seeking moments. Their self-created reality is disrupted by a woman who intrudes their world and wants to be part of it in order to deal with her own sexual frustrations. The performers Fabian Galama, Andreas Denk and actress Eva van Heijningen play their parts convincingly and with a good deal of humor to put things into perspective…”
NRC Handelsblad, Ine Rietstap
