Historic dance

For the celebration of the 750th anniversary of the city of The Hague, Maria Angad Gaur created an authentic 18th century court ball, in which performers of the Nederlandse Historische Dans en Theaterensemble (Dutch historic dance and theatre ensemble) danced minuets and quadrilles. Sabine Kupferberg and Gerard Lemaitre opened the ball, creating a princely atmosphere.

Indonesian dance

Under the guidance of Diah Tantri, Balinese dancers, dressed in brocade and adorned with flowers, performed age-old ritual dances. Musicians of both the gamelan orchestra and Dutch group Nazaten van Prins Hendrik (Prince Hendrik’s offspring) played tantalising crossbreed music, with a bit of winti, a bit of kawina and lots of groovy kaseko.

Afrikaanse dans

Muscular Kian-zo drummers from The Ivory Coast combined tall, sacred Bete-drums with small Malinke-drums, called djembe. Master drummer Aja Addy from Ghana, together with his dancers, gave a colourful performance, complemented by Dutch dance group Stella.

Folk dance

Accompanied by Johan Frauenfelder, Flamenco-dancer Yvette Groot danced fiery as the Andalusian sun. Following her, Radost performed ritual Siberian dances, then Nitsanim and Baluta and the young dancers of the Dutch Royal Conservatory performed.

Hindu dance

Kathak from the north, Odissi from the east and Bharat Natyam from the south of India: a unique journey through the dancing styles of the continent. Kelly Varma, Madhumita Raur, Sitra Bonoo and Asha Rambaran made the poses of ancient statues from India’s Hindu temples come alive.

Caribbean dance

Dancing the bolero on roller skates, Franklin Jameson looked like a tequila sunrise. Crema Exotica and Milton Lopez danced salsa, mambo and rumba to cracking Cuban and Colombian rhythms. This tropical Caribbean adventure was completed with the dance music of Rumbata.

Oriental dance

Mohammed Benchakchak and his dancers showed the mysticism and beauty of oriental Moroccan and Turkish dance. Holding a veil with their fingertips, the women danced repeating movements of the soefi-dance until they went into a trance. Arabesk provided festive music, playing exciting rai and sha’abi.

Argentinean tango

Tango can fuse all the passions of life in three and a half minutes. Dance group Ocho created the humorous interval, performing their theatrical combination of tango, modern dance and slapstick. Partners Lalo & Mirte plus Birkit & Muzaffer combined intimate embraces with ingeniously twined dance patterns and later Sexteto Canyengue provided great dancing music for all.

American dance

Tobias Tak started, performing a route through the golden age of swing, bebop and boogie with his clear, precise tap dancing – next Thom Stuart presented a segment of 'Dood7onde’ (the seven sins): a striking example of American theatre. The Flat Foot Floogees and Ruud Bergamin’s B’ Bounce Company provided the audience with jive and lindyhop.

Rock & Roll

The elastic legs and incredible knocking about of acrobatic rock-and-roll dance Crazy Legs was just the thing for the Danskaravaan on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Rock-and-roll street dance: black pointed shoes, jean jackets and greased quiffs for the men; sneakers, petticoats and beehives for the ladies. The Clarks presented an authentic fifties dance party.