On the road

Maternity leave
January 2010

Happy newyear! Both Caroline and Katjoesja are on maternity leave in January. The final weeks with our big bellies!
Dancer Femke Luyckx will step in and take over the production work. And of course all the co-workers will help out. We want to thank everybody beforehand!

Get well
November 2009

Was it the Mexican flu? We'll never know. Anyway Leena caught a good flu this tuesday. So bad that our performance in Panningen had to be cancelled. What a shame, especially for all the children and teachers who were looking forward to it.

But Leora, student at Het Maasveld te Tegelen, gave us a heartwarming reaction by sending us a get well card with a beautiful drawing. Thank you Leora!

And of course, at this moment we're still looking for a new date to come to Panningen!

Second Breakfast
November 2009

Have you ever seen our lunch boxes?
Then this quote from Lord of the Rings doesn't need explanation :)

Aragorn: Gentlemen! We do not stop 'til nightfall.
Pippin: But what about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?
[Aragorn stares at him, then walks off.]
Merry: Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevensies? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.

Paradeiser
oktober 2009

Dancer Leena Keizer was very busy in September and October. Because of the pregnancies of Caroline and Katjoesja she learned a new role for Castles in the Air. On top of that she also dances in the succesful performance Paradeiser in Münster, Germany. Ruth Schulz was the director of this performance and Malda Dedana the choreographer.

Photographer: Herwig Niggeman

Expecting...
summer 2009

This summer dancer Caroline enjoyed her holiday on island Ameland.
The Plankenkoorts bus was lucky and got to travel with her on the ferry.
And can you already see?
Caroline is 15 weeks pregnant in this picture!
From October 2009 dancer Leena will take her place in Castles in the Air.

Summerschool
summer 2009

This summer dancer Laura, just as in previous years, taught several workshops for Buitenkunst. She then enjoyed an exciting holiday in Israel.
To make this special summer complete she danced the skin of her feet during a 10-day Summer School at the dance academy P.A.R.T.S in Brussels. This first edition was built up around the repertoire of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her dance company Rosas. Guided by former Rosas dancer Ursula Robb the group of Laura experimented with the dance vocabulary of the performance Rain.

Theo and his women
April 2009

It's hard to believe, but the shows in Terneuzen were already the last ones of this season. We want more!
For this occasion we all went to Terneuzen together. And that's how our technician Theo was once again surrounded with women: 5 dancers and his own wife Mirjan.

Coincidence?!
april 2009

When two of our dancers independently take almost the exact same picture, can that still be called a coincidence?!
Well, it's beautiful for sure!

Backstage
April 2009

We are so lucky this season! For the second time there was a technician who spontaneously took it upon him to shoot photos of Castles in the Air from backstage. Underneath are the photos that Peter took in Terneuzen, the photos of Kevin en Clemens from Goor will follow soon. Thanks guys!
Click on one of the photos to see the whole series!

Fresh air
April 2009

We always like to go for a walk and get some fresh air after the show. But sometimes we also enjoy to go into town. Especially when that town is Gent. It's only an hour from Terneuzen!

Poledancing men!
March 2009

Poledancing in a 4+ performance? People usually raise at least one eyebrow when they hear this... But the men in Goor were all for it and showed us some pretty cool poledancing of their own. Super men!

Belle
March 2009

Belle, Femke's dog, often travels with us. Belle can wait quietly in the car, is well behaved in the theatre, can even be of help with pulling the tape from the floors... but playing outside is way nicer!

A mountain in Holland
March 2009

Nederland doesn't have mountains, and hardly any hills, so when we were this close to a proper hill, we had to visit and go for a walk... It made Belle happy too!

Castle in the Air or Ice Castle?
March 2009

Plankenkoorts enjoys playing in gyms as well as theatres. This makes it much easier for elementary schools to book our show.
But can somebody tell me, why are gyms always, so freezing COLD?!?! Brrrrrrr.

Care takers think that 16 Celsius is warm enough. You are moving aren't you? Well no. Okay, the professional handball club that we saw training last week, yes, they were running and sweating the full hour. But the average gym class at the average elementary school? No way. With instruction, waiting for your turn, parts where you're not exercizing on full strength... Doing that makes 16 Celsius just plain cold. There is a reason that the KVLO (Royal Union for Gymnastic Teachers) sets 18 Celsius as a minimum temperature!

We always request, with extra emphasis, to turn up the heater just a few degrees for us. With only 19 Celsius it is already so much more comfortable to spend that entire day in the gym, and to dance without cramped muscles and risk of injuries. Or even more important: it makes it so much more comfortable for the children to sit still and watch us for 45 minutes.
Even if the care takers think it's nonsense, for us it's a difference like night and day!

To turn the heater up though in the first place the heater has to be working! Because what happens when the heating is broken? Usually nobody notices. Each class comes to the gym for only an hour each week. And they might feel cold, but they always do, so maybe today is even colder, must be the day, or you being tired or something. There is no thermometer to check. And what are you supposed to do about it? Report to who, when, too much effort and not enough time...
But then we come along. And the first thing we do is whip out our dear thermometer.
This month it happened no less then 3 times. The heater was broken. And it's such a nuisance for all people involved. The school really can't help it, they just rent the place... Luckily we were able to find a solution all three times, but ouf we are ready for the summer!

We're so cold!

We spent the night in a lighthouse!
February 2009

That was very special! Johannes of Muzisch Centrum Emmeloord arranged it for us: spending the night in lighthouse in Urk! Breakfast with a view of the IJsselmeer...

The windmills of Kinderdijk
February 2009

What a coincidence. We had just been wondering where the famous windmills of Kinderdijk were situated?
And so the project in Ridderkerk turned out to be educational for us as well... Apparently the mills are just around the corner there! Ans so we spent our wednesday afternoon shooting these pictures...

Sleepovers
February 2009

Driving to and from Ridderkerk every day in heavy traffic... not our idea of fun! So we were very happy that we could stay in Rotterdam with Martine, Cas en Carole and Pauline. Thank you all so much!

Dance project in Ridderkerk
February 2009

Our spring tour had a smashing start with a dance project in Ridderkerk. For a whole week we turned school de Botter upside down. On monday the whole school came to theatre het Plein. The rest of the week we made a special version of Castles in the Air with all students. Not only do the children dance, they also create their own costumes. The week ended with two dazzling performances of all pupils!

Bye Steffie!
December 2008

Our intern stage technics Steffie de Haan is leaving us already. Armed with noodles and hot chocolate she travelled with us across the country the last few months.
We will miss her!

Snow
November 2008

Our bus looked so pretty in the snow...

Except it wouldn't start...
Not even with the brand new battery that was recently installed.
Thank god for the ANWB. "You gotta move..."

Première-party.
October 2008

Idyllic
October/November 2008

Our tour this year is taking us to a lot of cities in the Eastern and Northern part of The Netherlands (Hardenberg, Oldenzaal, Hengelo, Groningen etc.). Staying overnight can be very idyllic in those surroundings...

Missed it.
October 2008

Difficult? No! Fun? Of course!
October 2008

Such was the motto of Bal Populair, the grand opening of the Danceweek 2008. Throughout the Netherlands all dance-lovers ànd everyone who wanted to get to that dance-feeling, were invited to dance along. Conny Janssen of Conny Janssen Danst and Arthur Rosenfeld of Meekers made a groovy choreography. Professional dancers taught the dance to the audience.
Plankenkoorts joined this Bal Populair. After our performance Castles in the Air both children ànd adults had a ball in Theater de Tamboer in Hoogeveen.

Where were you this summer?
August 2008

The little circus of the sun
March 2008

YouTube
February 2008

Plankenkoorts is on YouTube!
Martrovich made a video about the rehearsal process of Castles in the Air. It hit the "honors" list of YouTube on the first day.
See for yourself!

Rauher Engel
February 2008

Japanese Bus
November 2007

Our bus likes to live his own life. Here he's trying a Japanese look...

And here he doesn't want to be photographed...

The "making of" Castles in the Air
October 2007

We are working very hard to make Castles in the Air reality.

The decor is ready! Finally the protective plastic is pulled off.

Costume fitting. And trying out.

Dramaturgic deliberations. And eating together.

Pole dance lessons from world champion Denise Mulder.

Breaking down for the first time. Quite a puzzle!

Will it fit?

Uhm, Femke is lost in the van. Belle waits patiently.

More building up. And finally dancing!

Damascus, Syria
June 2007

	At the end of May we received a request for a very special project: The international Shell School in Damascus, Syrië would be closing at the end of June and they wanted to present a dazzling end performance with all children. In this case, all children meant only 19, ranging in age between 4 and 12, and most of them english speaking.
	This asked for a completely new concept, and therefore we decided to co-operate with music company Visual Sound Art. This music company uses especially designed musical instruments that children can play. In special sessions the project Sea of Sound evolved, with music to look at and rhythms that dance...

At the end of June Femke and Roy took a plane to Damascus. Where it was 40 degrees Celsius (pffff), so they could only rehearse in the morning and evening and where the luggage and musical instruments didn't arrive until the day of the performance... But where on the roof of the Shell building, together with all the children, they performed a magical and unforgettable show.

Injuries
January 2007

Injuries... it's part of the job as a dancer, but of course it's still a bummer! During a rehearsal for a different company Caroline twisted her knee and sprained the inner ligament. MRI-scans, orthopaedists, fysiotherapists and braces were all called for, but the only remedy here is rest, rest, rest... Because of this we unfortunately had to cancel the performances of Risk! this spring. Let's just hope now that Caroline will recover quickly!

Red
January 2007

Once in a while we do projects that have nothing to do with Plankenkoorts. For example: in October Caroline hung in the air next to Marco Borsato, in a very red Gelredome.

Femke is at this moment working for the Nederlandse Opera where she is assistent-choreographer for the production Tannhäuser.
And in January Katjoesja will travel to Scotland to greet the monster van Loch Ness with Close-Act Theatre. And for that occasion Close-Act will of course bring their own "monsters"...

DACI 2006
July 3, 2006

From 2-8 july 2006 the Dance and Child International (DACI) Conference 2006 was held in The Hague. For this special occasion we drove all the way to Fortum Mollum (a tiny, tiny place near the border with Germany) to pick up the decor of Risk! from the storage.
We got some very enthusiastic and heart-warming reactions from the international audience, so who knows, maybe next time the decor can make a trip on an airplane (e.g. to Utah....)

An article in Parool!
June 28, 2006

Today an article about Plankenkoorts was published in the Amsterdam Newspaper het Parool.
Click on the picture to read the whole article (in Dutch)...

Dance project Hellevoetsluis
June 26 and 27, 2006

Two weeks after the dance project in Zaandam we organized another dance project on OBS de Ravelijn in Hellevoetsluis.

Dance project Zaandam
June 8 and 9, 2006

After our big anniversary party we didn't go on holiday just yet...
That same week we organised dance project In your Dream! at OBS De Dijk in Zaandam. In just two days we made the whole school dance!

10th Anniversary
June 3, 2006

Filmshoot remake Hoop it!
May 4, 2006

On thursday 4 May 2006 we had the filmshoot for the remake of Hoepel op!. (You can also read an account of the rehearsals a bit lower on this page)
For the filmshoot we had found a beautiful outside location: under a railway-arch Rotterdam was a concrete forest of pillars, that we could criss-cross through on our scooter. The colourful costumes of Jelleke made us stand out brightly against this gray, concrete evironment. The sunny weather completed the picture.

A day of shooting film is always very tiring. Every scene had to be done a couple of times, to have images from all kinds of angles. But of course every now and then something always tends to go wrong. E.g. we almost collide head first with one of those nice concrete pillars, or one of the hoolahoops slips out of our hands and flies into the camera, or someone away just crashes from the scooter on the floor. "Cut!" shouts the director, and we have to start again. The same "cut!" is heard when a biker accidently slips through our carefully set up barricades and thus flashes through the image. And we ourselves also occaionally wandered into the frame to soon. Luckily Rick stands imperturbably behind his camera, even when we're hours behind schedule...
The next day we all had muscle-ache in our upper legs: the dancers from being on the scooter and choreographer Soosan because she was squatting besides the ghettoblaster all day, to turn the music on and off.
Stylist Jelleke was on set all day to make sure that the clothes stayed neat after each shoot, and also to do some last-minute repairs. Because on a day like that of course your shoe breaks...

Under the gallery
April 24, 2006

While the preparations for the anniversary party continue, we're also still touring with the performace FRAGILE. This week we were in Breda for a few days in a row in the local sports centre. Because their dressing rooms are located at the end of a long hallway and there was no other space for us to enter from, we hided under the gallery at the start of each performance. Well, we could finally put the "delayed action shutter" to good use...!

Rehearsals Remake Hoop it!
April 23, 2006

At our Anniversary Benefit Gala the dance film Hoepel op! will in premiere. It will be a special remake very first dance performance of Plankenkoorts Hoop it!. With the three of us on our scooter we danced this performance more then 150 times throughout the Netherlands. After 10 years we dusted off the scooter and pumped up the tires again. We invited choreographer Soosan Gilson and film artist Rick Robin to make a remake of Hoop it! in the form of a dance film. To complete the cirkel the film will be a loop, beginning and ending in our now well-known logo of the scooter.

Warchild in Colombia
April 11, 2006

Ship Ahoy in Woudrichem
April 4, 2006

The tour schedule says we are in "Land van Altena" on April 4. Where would that be? we wonder. We consult the route planner that indicates that it is a part of the city Woudrichem! This happens to be the home town of the financial man of our board. Even though we contacted him only one day ahead, he and his family (his wife and two lovely daughters) gladly came to see the performance. They even allowed the daughters to skip school for this occasion. After the performance we were invited to come along to their home for a drink. A very special home, because they live on a historic ship!
Two days later Maartje, their youngest daughter (age 6), made this beautiful drawing of FRAGILE.

Double party
February 6, 2006

Belgian manners
January 17, 2006

Every now and then we have performances in our neighbour country Belgium. That's always nice, because Belgian children will respond differently. It's a cliché, but they are always very well-behaved.
We usually end the performance FRAGILE with a short chat with the children which we then end with a dance where the children become our mirror image. Usually no explanation is needed: we raise a hand, they do too, we raise another hand, they raise theirs, we stick out our tongues, nothing happens... Huh??? Perhaps we've not been clear, so we show it again. An awkward silence follows. We seriously wonder what we're doing wrong. We've just had a 4 week holiday, maybe we lost our touch in that time?? Finally one of the kids shouts out the answer to our questions: "You can't do that!! If you stick out your tongue the teacher will cut it off!" Well, then we understand of course that they will not blindly copy these impertinent Dutch!

Brazil
December 2005/January 2006

Dancing together, running the company together and then also on holiday together? Some people thought we're crazy, but we (Caroline and Katjoesja) had four wonderful weeks in Brazil. We didn't take dance classes or aerial acrobatics or anything else this time. But of course we can never sit still completely. As you can see we kept in shape!

The taste of dance?
October 15, 2005

"The taste of dance" was the theme of this years National Dance Week, that took place from 7 to 16 October. Plankenkoorts organised a special dance workshop ‘Taste it yourself’ after each performance in this week. That meant take off your shoes and get on stage to dance along with one of the dancers of Plankenkoorts... But did they like the taste??
In the middle of the workshop in The Hague, one of the students, a little girl of about six years old, came to Caroline "Mrs..." That's all she managed to say, because then everything she ate that day, came out and splashed all over the dance floor. Enjoy your meal!

And action!
September 27, 2005

I'm sure you know it: the videoclip of our previous performance Risk!. We will now have a videoclip like that of FRAGILE. A dazzling videoclip that will give you a three minute impression of FRAGILE. Just enough to make you want to come and see the whole performance.
't Kielzog, Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur in Hoogezand Sappemeer, kindly let us use their theatre for the filmshoot without extra costs, after we had performed the regular performance of FRAGILE there for the elemtary schools in Hoogezand. Jean Hellwig of Hellwig Productions Audiovisuals was willing to sponsor the clip by means of a big discount. A million thanks!
The filmshoot took place on wednesday 27 september 2005. Director and photographer Jean Hellwig, dancers Femke Luyckx and Katjoesja Siccama, technician Theo Tollenaar, volunteer Pius Mensah and all men of the theatre heard the words "And action!" until late in the evening.

The end-result is available on dvd!

Our first Plankenkoorts outing
July 23, 2005

No better reason for a company outing then a 10 year anniversary. Therefore technician Theo and Marja, about to say goodbye started organizing. Many people who now work for Plankenkoorts were not there in the early years. The 10-year-quiz therefore called for a lot of guessing on their part and a lot of explaining on the part of founders, Caroline, Marja and Katjoesja. But even those three had to guess when they had to re-enstage a scene from “Mountains~by~the~Sea”. Boardmembers, stagiairs, and dancers all danced this scene together on the grass in the teagarden in Millingen aan de Rijn. Marja was surprised with a big present for her parting: 11 books with memories for 11 years of dance together, friendship and growth. A walk, a lovely lunch and a lively dinner completed the day. Will it take another 10 years before we go on the next outing??

looking back...

Goodbye!
July 13, 2005

Open Air Theatre Vondelpark
July 6, 2005

Lost in Brussels
April 28, 2005

On thursday 28 april 2005 we played our performace Risk! for the first time for Belgian schools. Last season we did a tour through Belgium with In your dreams! and that was a very nice experience!
This time we were booked by Gemeenschapscentrum de Maalbeek in a small town called Etterbeek, which is actually not so much a town as a district of Brussels. Two weeks before the performance date we found out that the theatre of de Maalbeek was not high enough for our decor. At least we had enough time to arrange an alternative location, which was de sports centre around the corner. The only problem was that we had to do the set up very late in the evening on wednesday, because the volleybal club was in the sports centre until 10.00 pm. This meant that it was a very long day for us, because we also played a performance in Nijmegen that wednesday. But with the help of volunteer Michael, who whistled joyfully while running up and down the stairs with our decor parts, the set up went smooth and fast. At 11.00 pm we were ready to roll our tired bodies into our beds...
Unfortunately our hotel turned out to be on the other side of Brussels, at least a 12 kilometer drive and without a map!
Anybody who ever drove through Brussels (with or without a map), can well imagine our state of mind. Despair!! Thank god the volleybal players in the cantine were able to explain the way to the hotel to us quite clearly. The next day however was not so easy: one way streets, tunnels and lots and lots of traffic!! Instead of half an hour the drive took us 90 minutes. At 10.15 am we finally ran into the sports centre, jumped in our costumes and were just in time to let in the children at 10.30 am.! We'll say the excitement served as an alternative warm-up.

Venlo, or Paul's joke
April 11, 2005

It happens quite often: after elaborate information exchange, calling and emailing back and forth, we show up at the location, the theatre or the gym, to still encounter some unexpected problems. In Theatre Concordia in Enschede we knew that fitting in the decor was going to be a challenge, and it fit on the millimeter... But in Theatre de Maaspoort in Venlo Paul, one of the technicians of the theatre, really gave us a scare! He opened the door for us and led the way to the stage; through narrow hallways, lots of doors and many stairs we arrived at a small stage. Immediately each of us had his or her own thoughts:
- Way to low!! It won't be possible to perform here.
- Ouch, concrete floor, not exactly shock-absorbing, a nice treat for our knees and ankles...
- There's no dance vinyl yet and there's a piano still standing in the corner, this is going to be a long night...
- Where do we have to put the 260 children tomorrow? There are not nearly enough seats!

It was clear: nothing in this place was right for us. But what to do??
After it became clear to technician Paul that some minor adjustments were not going to do the trick, he contacted his colleagues who were working elsewhere in the same building... "Where had he disappeared to, they were waiting for us!! The dance vinyl was already rolled out, the lights were hung already, on the main stage, but of course!! We sighed of relief and then could laugh about "Paul's joke". In no-time the theatre was ready to play, thanks to Ton, Kees, Hay en Paul!

Dance project Almere
April 8, 2005

On 8 april 2005 we did the dance project In your dreams! on the Eerste Almeerse Montessorischool. To put a performance together in only one day, with the entire school... it feels like we sweep into the school like a thunder storm, children are dancing everywhere, making costumes and practising steps. At the end of the day the parent are invited to come and watch the end result in a dazzling performance!

The most beautiful stage of the Netherlands
March 21 and 22, 2005

Theatre Concordia in Enschede, is located in a more then 100 year old building and is therefor said to be jaar the most beautiful small stage of the Netherlands. We could only hope that our decor would fit in, because with measurement of a stage opening of 6 metres and a depth of 7.50, we were getting really close to our limits. But luckily, after some improvisation during the set up, our decor stood there like it was made for this stage!

Taping the floor
February 2005

For FRAGILE we insisted to have a white floor. Which basically means you have to bring along your own floor as you travel. A dance floor is made of thick vinyl that you roll in lanes of 1.50 width. That rolling could turn out to be a problem in the winter. After a night in the freezing cold in our van, the rolling out might not be so smooth. But once again we're lucky to have Femke, who turned out to be an expert in dance floors. By now the interns also got the hang of it, and now the floor lies straight as an arrow every time!

super straight

Animals in Emmen
February 7, 2005

Okay, okay, in Canada they live in the wild. But in Emmen we also saw a real bear! On monday we had the afternoon off after a performance in Sleen, and so we took our intern Erica along, and went to the zoo in Emmen.

Canada
February 2005

Busses in February...
February 2005

What's the deal with busses in february? Last year in february our Plankenkoorts van ended up total loss after a chain collision. Theo always drives his own van with equipment to the theatre and this year one of those winter storms turned the highway into a skatin rank right before Theo’s eyes. The drive ended in the ditch... Luckily no people were injured and even most of the equipment could be retrieved from the water. But the van, well that was definitely a total loss.
By now Theo already bought a new van. And because Theo always has to be a little bit bigger then the rest of us, this van is also one size larger then our Plankenkoorts van!

More women!
januari 2005

Since january a lot more people then just the dancers are working for Plankenkoorts ... Who are all these women?? Because yes they're all women. Theo, our technician, is still the only man. Erica, Anne, Babette and Evelien joined the Plankenkoorts team. Taking turns they go on tour with us as stage managers. The stage manager is responsible for the building up and breaking down of the décor, arranges lunch and organizes the entrance of the audience. That last item can be quite difficult when playing in schools. The nervous teachers (again mostly women) and the average 120 enthousiastic children all have to find a place for their coats and shoes and some have to go to the bathroom one last time. Then they all have to find a good place to sit and then finally the stage manager can calm them all down with an introduction to the performance. She welcomes them, explains the rules, and introduces the show.
Being a stage manager for Plankenkoorts is not an easy job; getting up at 05.00 am to catch the train to arrive in a tiny village in Drenthe at 08.00 am, pfieuw. But when we're all there: all the women and one guy, we always have a good time!

Babette is building up the cubes of FRAGILE