Nanine Linning Foundation presents: ENDLESS SONG OF SILENCE

World premiere: January 22^nd, 2010 at Theater Bellevue, Amsterdam
Duration 60 minutes – No Intermission

“Nanine Linning created an enthralling, truly moving work that met with a roar of heartfelt applause." (Dance Magazine, 2010)

Endless Song of Silence tells the universal story of two people drifting apart. Linning turns the spotlight on a relationship between two people who straddle the thin line of breaking up, showing the stages of a relationship full of confidence and love, spiralling into sorrow, anger and separation. They can’t live with nor without each other, the audience witnesses the emotional experience of universal love and its painful ending.

Poignant music, film projections and live video footage form the backdrop to an angry falling-out between the two protagonists. The various phases of the impending split-up become palpable in three parts. Linning herself has teamed up with Danilo Colonna to dance the piece to the impressive Third Symphony by Gorecki. A deafening silence marks the end of the performance. Linning: “I hear in this music the last minutes and seconds of life, the notion of time slipping away, everything slows down to the very final chord followed by a silence which seems to last forever, hence the title.” 

During her stint with the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in 2005, Nanine Linning laid the foundation for Endless Song of Silence by creating an 18-minute duet. She did so to great critical and popular acclaim. She then turned it into a full-length performance, which, in a recognizable manner, expresses the vulnerability of two people. 

Het Financieel Dagblad wrote: “The wonderful thing about this dance piece with the elegant title ‘Endless Song of Silence’ is that it is left open to different interpretations. Some will see this as symbolic for the aftermath of an intensive relationship conflict, while others will regard it as representing humanity’s vulnerability.... This duet has definitely excited our curiosity to see more of her work.”

De Volkskrant wrote in 2010: “Linning splendidly gave shape to this theme using a theatrical invention: the dancers move around on a long conveyor belt running between two voile curtains showing video images. This creates a magical cinematographic scenery, moving from video to reality in a very sudden way, set to the impressive music of the Polish composer H. Górecki.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung praises its “overwhelming Pas de deux”. And in words of NRC Handelsblad: “The set design in ‘Endless Song of Silence’ is a delight to the eye.... The interaction between the video images and dancers looks fabulous.”