The good old days… meeting a remarkable friend and fantastic choreographer from long ago.

Last summer I brought Gala to a sailing camp in Friesland (northern province of the Netherlands). Sylvia lives up north, so I visited her.

A couple of years ago she got in contact with me and bought a painting. She threatened to come and visit, but they stayed threats. ‘If the mountain didn’t come to Mohammed, Mohammed went to visit the mountain.’  

Last time we saw each other was about 30 years ago. It seemed as if we had had a drink a week ago when we met.

Much wiser and soberer we have not become over the years, I think… Syl is still pleasantly disturbed, I cannot judge myself.

Dance fascinated me in those years. I explain this in the second part of the chapter ‘ITALY, BREAKING LOOSE FROM PAINTING AFTER NATURE, 1980-1986’ of the text ‘IN SEARCH OF A STYLE’ (click on the title to go to the text).

Back in the Netherlands I made sketches during performances of the Nationaal Ballet. Of two of them I show photos here.

I often saw Francine, a mutual friend. She introduced me to Sylvia. Francine produced theatre productions and came with the idea of a multi disciplinary show: a dance performance with a painter on stage. Title: ‘QUADERNA’.

Like with so many dance productions, the story could be read in different ways. It talked about a painter, his environment and doubts.

At the first rehearsals I made sketches. A couple can be seen under this text. Only after having sort of figured out the dance parts, I was found a place and role.

We were in five. Hany and I stood for the painter and there were three ladies.

The backdrop existed of panels with stretched linen of three meters high and one meter twenty five wide. I had a crate on wheels for my paint and brushes.

Five minutes before the doors of the theatre hall opened I started to paint the left part of the scenery (on the right this was already done; every new performance we added two or three new panels). While the public was seated, I painted a surface of about three by three meters in a quarter of an hour. One by one the dancers entered the stage.

The light slowly changed, I moved to the side of the stage and Hany took over. With each of the other dancers he had a duet.

I stayed on stage during the whole performance. Every once in a while I participated, but not as a dancer.

Half way I covered the backdrop with sheets. Near the end I covered Hany with paint, you see a photo of that on the right below. As finishing climax all dancers were smothered with paint.

We were a success! ‘QUADERNA’ was performed 10 times. The series in the Vlaams Cultureel Centrum were all sold out.

With more or less the same troupe, but without me, Sylvia made another dance production and left off to Iceland with Hany. They celebrated many triumphs there.

Did I miss a career?

I learned one thing: the immediacy of the stage. You have to succeed no matter what happens or goes wrong. This creates a lovely addictive feeling. In painting this does not exist. At least twice during ‘QUADERNA’ I walked on the edge. These two performances I consider to have been the most exiting and successful.

Theatre hardly leaves traces. There are no moving images of our performance. The memory remains and the meeting and laughing with Sylvia … she threatened once more to come and visit. Let’s hope this time…

Barcelona, october 2019.