Freek Nieuwdorp is a ‘making player’; he played with Jakop Alhbom, 155 and Maastd, among others, and in addition he makes energetic, physical youth theatre performances. Often with main roles for bodies and movements – at House of Panama, as an associated artist, he will explore these further. ‘What does an object or a set do to a body?
‘What would it be like if you hang a performer upside down and attach a certain situation or emotion to it? What happens on stage then? What do audiences experience? And what is that like for the performer?’
It is these kinds of provocative questions that occupy Freek’s mind when thinking about a performance. He does not start from a well-defined story or a well-known play, but is mainly guided by themes, situations and emotions – and explores the play and the questions that arise from it.
Alone in a schoolyard
As with Milky Way, the youth performance with which he was nominated for a Jonge Zwaan (most impressive youth dance production) and won a Zilveren Krekel in 2024. ‘The starting point there was the situation: what happens if you are not picked up from school? With that, we started improvising, imagining in an empty studio what movements arise when you are left alone in a schoolyard. So we translated the situation and emotions into movement.’
Freek took the performance course at the Maastricht Drama Academy and Mime course at the Amsterdam School of the Arts. ‘How to make sure you can keep thinking and playing on stage was something I learned there, among other things. But finding inspiration in your body in combination with an object is something I still wanted to learn. That’s why I approached Pia Meuthen for the final direction of Milky Way. I find it incredibly inspiring how she shapes dance and circus in her performances with the circumstances, a set for example.’
Super-interesting bridge
Freek wants to explore that fascination further as an associated artist at House of Panama. ‘There I really want to start experimenting, discover what becomes possible when you morph that particular crossover of circus and dance with my more play-oriented mime background. Getting clear: what does an object or a set do to a body?’
‘And see how you can bring out even more from your storytelling that way. How, through this super interesting bridge between the different disciplines, you can enter a kind of imaginative world and tell big, exciting stories in a different way. Stories with leading roles for situations and emotions, movements and objects.’
Panama Pictures and House of Panama involve a lot of enthusiastic and skilled creators, in front of and behind the scenes. Read their (and therefore our) stories here.
Photo: Bart Grietens