Swan Lake Remixed for ADE

Personal Reflection

I was excited about this one for two reasons: Swan Lake reimagined through electronic music, and the chance to return to Gashouder after its long renovation. As one of the opening events of ADE’s 30th anniversary, it felt like a perfect way to start the week. The performance itself was lovely, although the experience of watching it was unnecessarily frustrating. Gashouder is an incredible space for techno, but I’m not convinced the setup worked for ballet. It was a standing event, with a stage that simply wasn’t high enough. At 160 cm, I spent much of the performance trying to catch glimpses of the dancers between people’s heads. Ironically, I could often see the choreography better through my phone camera than with my own eyes. Not exactly how I’d imagined experiencing Swan Lake. Artistically, though, the show grew on me beautifully. It started quite discreetly, with dancers moving to fairly typical techno beats. At first, I wasn’t sure how much of Swan Lake we were actually going to get. But gradually, the music and movement began to evolve. Tchaikovsky’s familiar melodies emerged through the electronic sound, and the contrast between classical ballet and contemporary dance started to feel increasingly natural. I particularly loved how the music developed. Hearing those recognisable Swan Lake themes woven into electronic rhythms gave the performance an emotional quality that the opening hadn’t quite reached for me. The combination became more powerful as the show progressed. There was something special about seeing two dance worlds meet in a place I’ve always associated with electronic music. I just wish I’d been able to see more of the actual dancing. I left with mixed feelings: impressed by the artistic collaboration, disappointed by the organisation, and genuinely happy to be back inside Gashouder. A beautiful idea, a lovely performance, and a reminder that even the best choreography needs to be visible to its audience.