Wanderer
Dutch National Opera & Ballet
For 'Wanderer', set to a piano composition by David Lang, Arqués was inspired by the refugee crisis and, more generally, by everyone who makes radical decisions and goes in a new direction – maybe partly as a consequence of the corona crisis. The five dancers in 'Wanderer' represent a group of friends or family who leave their home in search of a new future and greater stability. In the end, however, each individual has to make their own choices, and not everyone’s dreams come true.
National Ballet Academy Choreography Juanjo Arqués Music David Lang – This was written by hand Pianist Sepp Grotenhuis Costume design Oliver Haller Light design Bas de Bruijn Repetitor Nathalie Caris Dancers National Ballet Academy Grace Humphris, Nicola Jones, Alberto Ortega de Pablos, Konosuke Takeoka, Guilherme Vicente Photographer Sjoerd Derine World premiere July 2021
“The best piece on offer was undoubtedly Juanjo Arqués’s Wanderer. Set to David Lang’s whimsical piano music, It’s a work for five dancers and it’s full of interesting tableaux and fascinatingly arrange bodies. It was beautifully danced too, especially by the two ladies, Grace Humphris and Nicola Jones, who looked eminently at home in the flowing expressive movement”