performance body matter
UPCOMING two new creations, one residency, 25 performances, 23 dancers ︎contact
Enter the world of Lunatics and Poets, otherwise known as - and responding to - Anna and Hanna. The complexity of figuring out who's who deepens as Hanna's name is, in fact, also Anna, and Anna would have nearly been called Hanna. The studio embodies a surreal fusion of lunacy and poetry. The work unravels grand themes and explores the depths of the human condition, crafting theatrical images and choreographing a delicate tapestry that transcend conventional understanding. Lunatics and Poets is based in Amsterdam, founded by Anna Jacobs and Hanna van der Meer. They operate at the intersection of choreography, performance, and fashion, creating dynamic experiences for theater, installations, and film.
Lunatics and Poets are also open to exploring new horizons in the realm of movement direction for fashion and various artistic collaborations. If you're intrigued and seeking more details, we welcome you to reach out.
"We seamlessly intertwine movement, dress, materiality, and the body, viewing them as naturally connected entities deeply rooted in society. These elements evoke sensory associations tied to emotions and memories, serving as essential expressions of our identities and beliefs. Our creative exploration delves into the unspoken emotional layers beneath society's surface, revealing personal and societal stories embedded in material and body. Through our work, we aim to transport viewers into a simultaneously recognizable and alienating world, uncovering suppressed vulnerabilities in our daily lives. Our choreography revolves around theatrical images that explore themes like fear, alienation, the everyday, identity, love, transience, and human incompetence. Set in imaginary environments, our visually worlds carry a lightness that veils deeper, sometimes darker, universal truths."
a filmic work for theatre
Postcards from a better place
Worldpremiere 17 Nov 2022,
tour through NL and at Festival Prisma, Panama City
Duration: 30 min.
Commisioned and (co)produced by Nite
Cast: Lin van Kaam, Tatiana Spiewak, Tatiana Matveeva, William English, Ada Daniele
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, direction), Lunatics and Poets in collaboration with the dancers (choreography), Merit Vessies (dramaturgy), Rik van den Heuvel (sound), Ascon de Nijs (set), Samon Presland (light), Samir Duratovic (costume), Lea Marika (atelier)
tour through NL and at Festival Prisma, Panama City
Duration: 30 min.
Commisioned and (co)produced by Nite
Cast: Lin van Kaam, Tatiana Spiewak, Tatiana Matveeva, William English, Ada Daniele
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, direction), Lunatics and Poets in collaboration with the dancers (choreography), Merit Vessies (dramaturgy), Rik van den Heuvel (sound), Ascon de Nijs (set), Samon Presland (light), Samir Duratovic (costume), Lea Marika (atelier)
In Postcards from a better place, Lunatics and Poets illuminate the dark side of human nature. From an infantile game to overt violence, it is the inner darkness that confronts us with irreversible acts, shame, and guilt. This performance is a poetic portrait of the shadow side that, at the same time, makes us human. The set refers to rooms in which emotionally charged moments occur in a filmic way, and in which the inner and outer worlds begin to overlap. The audience is invited to follow their own storyline within the many scenes that unfold in ‘the house’ and simultaneously take place in the emotive outside world at the very front of the stage. Lightness and darkness can’t exist without each other: darkness does not exist without light, and vice versa. Where do dark thoughts and emotions come from, and under what circumstances do they surface?
Images: Jésula Toussaint Visser
an installation in a growing city
Alone with Everybody
January-June 2023
Commisioned by M. Museum
Credits: Tymon Bijlhout (sound), Samon Presland (light), Eori Wakakuwa (cinematography),Olympia Kotopoulos (performer opening), Tatiana Spiewak, Lin van Kaam, Terencio Douw (performers film)
Commisioned by M. Museum
Credits: Tymon Bijlhout (sound), Samon Presland (light), Eori Wakakuwa (cinematography),Olympia Kotopoulos (performer opening), Tatiana Spiewak, Lin van Kaam, Terencio Douw (performers film)
Alone with Everybody is a multi-disciplinary installation that blends objects, film, and sound to explore contemporary themes like relationships, identity, community, gender, and materialism. Miniature, uninhabited households invite observers to closely examine domestic items as personal extensions, unveiling emotional imprints and memories. The soundscape seamlessly connects public and private spheres, while short films depict surreal scenes of a stranger's daily life at home.
Suspended by slender threads, these floating microcosms visually symbolize life's intricate balance. Observing familiar elements on a small scale imparts logic to larger complexities and encourages the reinvention of narratives. Alone with Everybody urges us to transcend the ordinary, offering a profound exploration of the human experience through introspection and imagination.
Suspended by slender threads, these floating microcosms visually symbolize life's intricate balance. Observing familiar elements on a small scale imparts logic to larger complexities and encourages the reinvention of narratives. Alone with Everybody urges us to transcend the ordinary, offering a profound exploration of the human experience through introspection and imagination.
Images: Erwin Budding
sculptural, tactile, immersive - theatrical, filmic, technological
The land of no curtains
Worldpremiere at Festival d’Avignon, 9-17 July 2022
and at Cinedans Fest A’dam
(co)produced by Dark Euphoria
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, creative direction, embroidery), Jan Jacobs (visual art - houses), Eori Wakakuwa (cinematography), Elgar Weijtmans (technology), Tymon Bijlhout (sound), Samon Presland (light), Olympia Kotopoulos (live performer), Hanna van der Meer, Arno Verbruggen, Michael Johnson (performers film)
Special thanks: Arja Spronken (colouring houses), Urbainstudio (film), Performance Technology Lab (research), Nienke Rooijakkers (writing), Martin Weijtmans (engineering), Yoeri Treffers (house support), the team of Le Grenier à sel under the direction of Véronique Baton
Funding partners: European Commission - Creative Europe, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts,
Dutch Ambassy France, La Manufacture
and at Cinedans Fest A’dam
(co)produced by Dark Euphoria
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, creative direction, embroidery), Jan Jacobs (visual art - houses), Eori Wakakuwa (cinematography), Elgar Weijtmans (technology), Tymon Bijlhout (sound), Samon Presland (light), Olympia Kotopoulos (live performer), Hanna van der Meer, Arno Verbruggen, Michael Johnson (performers film)
Special thanks: Arja Spronken (colouring houses), Urbainstudio (film), Performance Technology Lab (research), Nienke Rooijakkers (writing), Martin Weijtmans (engineering), Yoeri Treffers (house support), the team of Le Grenier à sel under the direction of Véronique Baton
Funding partners: European Commission - Creative Europe, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts,
Dutch Ambassy France, La Manufacture
The Land of No Curtains emerges as an exploration, transcending the boundaries of mere installation. Blending performance, material artistry and cinematic expression to capture a society's longings, desires, and deepest fears. The Land of No Curtains is a captivating microcosm in which films on holographic screens and delicate embroidered textiles reflect the essence of home—its objects, memories, and daily rhythms. It unravels the threads of significance woven through the mundane, allowing us to give logic to bigger things. This reflection highlights the duality inherent in the concept of a house, simultaneously protective yet vulnerable. Like a delicate dance between the light and darkness of life, and its fragile beauty.
Images: Elgar Weijtmans, Celine Delatte
a transformative piece, like moving paintings
The people look like flowers at last
A theatre film as well as a live work. Made for the digital Nite Hotel in 2021 on the Poetic Disasters Club and is a co-production with Club Guy & Roni and Noord Nederlands Toneel.
Shown live at Tanzplattform Bern Ballet, Switzerland and at Theater Rotterdam as part of RIDCC Brings Back.
Duration: 30 min.
Cast: William English, Jésula Toussaint Visser/Aya Mitsaki, Rosie Reith, Tatiana Matveeva/Zaneta Kesik, Tatiana Spiewak/Simone Peters, Terencio Douw/Felix Feestra/Sam Corver
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, choreography), Samon Presland (light), Tymon Bijlhout (sound) Lunatics and Poets (costume, set)
Title & Text: Charles Bukowski, E.E. Cummings
Shown live at Tanzplattform Bern Ballet, Switzerland and at Theater Rotterdam as part of RIDCC Brings Back.
Duration: 30 min.
Cast: William English, Jésula Toussaint Visser/Aya Mitsaki, Rosie Reith, Tatiana Matveeva/Zaneta Kesik, Tatiana Spiewak/Simone Peters, Terencio Douw/Felix Feestra/Sam Corver
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, choreography), Samon Presland (light), Tymon Bijlhout (sound) Lunatics and Poets (costume, set)
Title & Text: Charles Bukowski, E.E. Cummings
Perhaps the life we've known thus far is but a fraction of true existence. What lies beyond death remains a mystery—could there be a transitional realm, unfolding in myriad narratives?
This work contemplates the post-death experience. It envisions a transit zone where the memories of diverse individuals unfold through transformative sequences. It commences with an otherworldly forest, culminating in the portrayal of an isolated flower. A composition marked by serenity and tranquility, it is a visually immersive work filled with vulnerability and poetic imagery. The People look like flowers at last becomes a performance that resists defining The End. It borrows its title from Charles Bukowski, resonating with his insight that one must 'die a few times before you can really live'—or perhaps, we sleep forever and die only for a little while.
This work contemplates the post-death experience. It envisions a transit zone where the memories of diverse individuals unfold through transformative sequences. It commences with an otherworldly forest, culminating in the portrayal of an isolated flower. A composition marked by serenity and tranquility, it is a visually immersive work filled with vulnerability and poetic imagery. The People look like flowers at last becomes a performance that resists defining The End. It borrows its title from Charles Bukowski, resonating with his insight that one must 'die a few times before you can really live'—or perhaps, we sleep forever and die only for a little while.
Images: Jésula Toussaint Visser
a site specific performance or moving editorial
Hurry slowly, but hurry
Worldpremiere 9 July 2021
Duration 30 min.
Produced by Oerol Festival and Over het IJ Festival as part of ‘Het Atelier’.
Initial presentation at the NDSM theatre and ZuidWest Loods (indoor photographs)
Cast: Ada Daniele, Terencio Douw
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, choreography, set)
Duration 30 min.
Produced by Oerol Festival and Over het IJ Festival as part of ‘Het Atelier’.
Initial presentation at the NDSM theatre and ZuidWest Loods (indoor photographs)
Cast: Ada Daniele, Terencio Douw
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, choreography, set)
Hurry slowly, but hurry is Lunatics and Poets’ bittersweet dance-episode about the inevitable
end and our fascination with death as a dark attraction. As a ‘performance tourist’ we travel to the site of an accident, two people balance at the end of
their existence. Alternating between light and darkness, life delays and flashes by.
The starting point finds its roots in the unique landscapes of the island of Terschelling and the NDSM Werf in Amsterdam, drawing inspiration from societies’ relationship with mortality.
The starting point finds its roots in the unique landscapes of the island of Terschelling and the NDSM Werf in Amsterdam, drawing inspiration from societies’ relationship with mortality.
Images: Urbain Studio (outdoor),
Eori Wakakuwa (indoor)
Eori Wakakuwa (indoor)
a semi risky lockdown film
The long goodbye
Worldpremiere at Fashion Film Festival Milano (2021). Screened at Aesthetica Short Film Festival (UK, 2022), Cinedans (NL, 2022)
Duration 5 min.
Performer: Terencio Douw
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, choreography, dress) Eori Wakakuwa (cinematography, edit), Feathered Sun (music)
Duration 5 min.
Performer: Terencio Douw
Credits: Lunatics and Poets (concept, choreography, dress) Eori Wakakuwa (cinematography, edit), Feathered Sun (music)
Explore the narrative of our connection to everyday rituals through a compelling short film. Elevating mundane routines to an intimate daily performance, the film prompts reflection on the ephemeral nature of these acts. As we contemplate whether they will endure only as physical memories, the film prompts us to question if we can ever truly grasp the traces we leave behind.
Images: Eori Wakakuwa
