Superhuman

Superhuman: Our Inner Darkness is a contemporary dance performance by choreographer and cultural anthropologist Kalpana Raghuraman. Six dancers and a singer are looking for a new superhero. A hero who also dares to be vulnerable and unadapted, a superhuman.

The #MeToo scandal changed Kevin Spacey from superhero to villain in one go. The gods of this time are fallen heroes as soon as they do not meet the expectations of perfection. In Superhuman: our inner darkness I search and reveal the crack in the perfect image, so that superheroes can be human again and can show all sides of themselves.
— Kalpana Raghuraman

After a successful tour in the Netherlands and India with the performance Simeon, in collaboration with the Matangi Quartet, Kalpana will come in 2018 with her new work Superhuman: Our Inner Darkness. She is intrigued in all sides of the human being who make us indefinable and unpredictable. But in mythology and pop culture, among others, we often see a one-sided perspective. Hercules and Beyonce seem to be examples of ultimate perfection. But is it still real to believe that these icons are perfect? Do we not all have an inner darkness and is it perhaps too oppressed?

Kalpana grew up in the Netherlands in an Indian family. As a little girl she devoured many Indian mythological comic strips, in which to her surprise good and bad characters were less one-sided than in Western culture. A superhero could also be bad. This openness about the inner darkness that lies within us all fascinates Kalpana. In Superhuman: Our Inner Darkness she creates a new superhero through a symbiosis of Indian dance, contemporary dance, music composed by Simone Giacomini and live vocals of Lotta Sophie Bakker. A hero who also dares to show the inner darkness, a superhuman.

‘Wanneer een danseres als een schitterende tijgergodin met ontblote tanden
dreigend richting de lantaarn kruipt, kan er er maar één conclusie volgen:
er schuilt schoonheid in het donker.’ 
— Trouw ***

‘Het resultaat is een dynamische dansvorm die theatrale zeggingskracht
heeft en mooi is om naar te kijken’ 
— Trouw ***

‘Kalpana Raghuraman’s new piece provided a fitting, super even,
climax to this year’s Korzo India Dance Festival.’
— ArtsTalk Magazine

‘Indiase elementen zijn volop aanwezig, maar ingebed in moderne dans,
die een ander, abstracter verhaal vertelt.’ 
— Theaterkrant

Unfortunately there are no events planned for now.

choreography
Kalpana Raghuraman

concept 
Kalpana Raghuraman & Gysèle ter Berg
Business director and artistic associate
Gysèle ter Berg
dance
Anuradha Pancham, Álvaro Silva Gómez, Zahira Suliman, Lars de Vos,
Rohiet Tjon Poen Gie, Goda Žukauskaitė


singer
Lotta Sophie Bakker

music composition
Simone Giacomini

liberetto
Lotta Sophie Bakker

costume design
Asalia Khadjé

light design
Frank van Schie, Jeffrey Steenbergen

technical production
Disappearow

executive technique
Frank van Schie, Jeffrey Steenbergen

dramaturgy
Marc Maris

artistic advice
Serge Aimé Coulibaly

business management & sales
Gysèle ter Berg

production leader
Susanne Tuny

marketing & PR
Nanda van Aalst

graphic design
Serena Kloet

cartoon artist
Floor de Goede

photography campaign image
Alexander Berdin Lazursky

scene photography
Bowie Verschuuren

with special thanks to
Beppie Blankert, Sanne Danz, Faso Danse Théâtre, Andrew van Esch, Roy de Hair, Marjet van Os, Erik Pals