Author: simonevanschip

Yes, we’re back with another Metaphor Monday! Our choreographers often use metaphors to help explain a new dance move. Every week on Monday we share the smart and funny things they come up with.

Metaphor Monday #3: “Hold candlesticks, not buckets”.

Dancing is all about the details, like how you hold your hands. While teaching a move with clenched fists, Larissa quickly pointed out that she expected us to hold candlesticks, not buckets. You’ll see it for yourself when you visit our show in December…

This week’s metaphor is brought to you by Simone!

We’re back with a brand new Meet the Dancers! This week we’re serving up two true jacks-of-all-trades. Robbert is a skilled Latin and modern dancer, and his videography skills are also on point. To top it all off, he is a soulful saxophonist! Being one of the few men in the group, he has certainly learned how to stand his ground.

When it comes to being multi-talented, Sanne will not be left behind. This superwoman dances beautifully in both modern and jazz styles, and has even started honing her salsa and zouk skills. Sanne is both an avid learner and an avid teacher – she is even contributing some choreography to this year’s show. You can trust us when we say, she just knows how to pull it off!

This pair brings and impressive array of skills to us. It’s amazing to have them on our team!

Left

Name: Robbert
Age: 33
Height: 1.84m
Work/study: chemist
Dance styles: Brazilian zouk, modern, salsa
Super dance talent: some call Robbert ‘master of dancing on the spot’ (zouk)
Extra talents: playing what John Mayer calls the ‘Bitch-whistle’ (the saxophone) and flying crazy-ass big drones
Fun fact: last year Robbert was the videographer of the Project Blank shows

Right

Name: Sanne
Age: 28
Height: 1.81m
Work/study: project manager in area development
Dance styles: jazz, modern, classical, salsa
Super dance talent: outstanding muscle memory (Sanne even remembers choreographies from 10 years ago!)
Extra talents: being ‘the positive, crazy one’ in every group
Fun fact: Sanne is one of the main choreographers of this year’s show

Do you want to read more about our dancers? Check out the Dansers page on our website (in Dutch)!

A new week means… a new Metaphor Monday! Metaphors are a way of connecting something we don’t know to something we know. Our Project Blank choreographers often use metaphors to explain a new dance move. Our dancers sometimes use them too for understanding and remembering. That’s how this week’s metaphor saw the light:

Metaphor Monday #2: “The awkward unicorn”

Lot came up with this metaphor for a move that involved a pointed finger on a forehead. We get it. What do you think?

It’s Lot herself who shows you the metaphor move in the picture!

This is Jesús: a powerful and positive Latin dancer. His sensual Bachata audition captivated us from the moment he started moving. Later, he stole our hearts once again when he admitted that he sometimes practiced pieces of choreography in his office (and once got ‘caught’ by a colleague in the middle of a capoeira-like pose).

This hard-working dancer is one of the sunniest personalities in the bunch, and a calming and stable presence at our rehearsals. Unfortunately, his body has not been a stable presence for Jesús. Due to several injuries, he recently had to stop with rehearsals, which could not make us sadder.

He will, however, remain a part of the Project Blank family, so of course he deserves a spotlight. This week’s Meet the Dancers is a tribute to Jesús. We will miss him!

Name: Jesús
Age: 42
Height: 1.83m
Job/study: Assistant Professor at Utrecht University
Dance styles: Latin
Super dance talent: self-improvement
Extra talents: improving oneself also applies to everything non-dance!
Fun fact: Jesús sometimes gets star-struck in meeting other great dancers

Do you want to read more about our dancers? Check out the Dansers page on our website (in Dutch)!

On this beautiful day, we introduce you to #metaphormonday! Metaphors are a way of connecting something we don’t know to something we know. Did you know that the use of metaphors can speed up learning new dance moves? Now you do! Our Project Blank choreographers often use the funniest metaphors. That’s how Metaphor Monday was born.

Metaphor Monday #1: “Channel your inner banana”.

This one was used by Larissa to improve the flow of an acro trick that involved a handspring.

Our beautiful Lot models nicely for this metaphor in her bright yellow sweater!

Today, we have a very special edition of ‘Meet the Dancers’. These are not just any women. Nope, these are the very founders and leaders of Project Blank! Lydia and Larissa had known each other and danced together for a few years, when the idea for Project Blank started to bloom. Taking class is fun, but they missed the rush of being on a stage.

Together they brainstormed about how they could bring together creative talents to build a group of dedicated dancers. The unique selling point was that everyone would contribute with their skills in whatever ways they could: choreography, music, costume design, writing, or anything else in their bag of tricks.

At the start of 2016, they decided to go for it. After a successful first year, we’re back for round two – bigger and better than before!

Left

Name: Lydia
Age: 31
Height: 1.68m
Work/study: graphic designer and adviser in arts & culture education for primary schools
Dance styles: modern, jazz, a little bit of popping & locking and her own fusion
Super dance talent: lifts (as a flyer) and arms that can move in unexpected and freakish ways
Extra talents: adventure sports and being a theme party costume queen and board game master
Fun fact: Lydia is the designer of the logo, branding and website of Project Blank!

Right

Name: Larissa
Age: 31
Height: 1.68m
Work/study: post-doc in Management Studies at WUR
Dance styles: modern, jazz, salsa
Super dance talent: tumbling/acro/lifts
Extra talents: knitting (quote: “I’m among the oldest on our team – it’s allowed.”)
Fun fact: Larissa’s 7-month-old daughter involuntarily danced in last year’s Project Blank performance, as she was 30 weeks pregnant with her at the time!

Do you want to read more about our dancers? Check out the Dansers page on our website (in Dutch)!

It’s time to introduce to you two more of our amazing dancers. These two fun women are both new to the Project Blank team. On the left is Afra, who wows us by quickly mastering all different styles of choreography. On the right is Nina, a sweet and quirky character, who we are happy decided to join our family – although it almost didn’t happen. Why? Check it out below!

Both of these ladies bring their joyful and bubbly personalities to every rehearsal. We are happy to have you on our team, girls!

 

Left

Name: Afra
Age: 24
Height: 1.66m
Work/study: Linguistics student by day, Dutch teacher by night!
Dance styles: modern, jazz, contemporary
Super dance talent: mastering brand new choreography
Extra talents: holding a plank (has an unbelievable record of 7.38 minutes)
Fun fact: once wrote a thesis on different systems of dance notation (conclusion: there’s no good way to do it, we have to just learn it all by heart!)

Right

Name: Nina
Age: 27
Height: 1.72m
Work/study: just started her Master’s in Pedagogy
Dance styles: modern, jazz, urban
Super dance talent: improvisation
Extra talents: grandma-style Greek cooking
Fun fact: Nina found out about Project Blank on the day of the auditions. She crashed the party and made the cut, despite her (fashionably) late arrival!

Do you want to read more about our dancers? Check out the Dansers page on our website (in Dutch)!

 

Have you ever wondered who is behind the magic, here at Project Blank? Starting today, we will introduce you to our 2017 dancers, two by two. This year, our team has grown from 10 to 14 beautiful dancers. Each one brings something unique to the table in the form of style, technique and personality, as well as a slew of non-dance talents!

First up: Cynthia & Simone.

Left

Name: Simone
Age: 29
Height: 1.78m
Work/study: freelance copywriter
Dance style(s): modern, classical, urban
Super dance talent: basing lifts
Extra talents: WhatsApp queen
Fun fact: Simone is the author of the Project Blank blogs!

Right

Name: Cynthia
Age: 27
Height: 1.52m
Work/study: Housing & Facility Officer at Utrecht University
Dance style(s): classical, modern
Super dance talent: fairy arms and pointe
Extra talents: climbing and crocheting (though not at the same time)
Fun fact: surprisingly enough, considering the climbing, Cynthia has a fear of heights!

Do you want to read more about our dancers? Check out the Dansers page on our website (in Dutch)!

Alright, guys. Here it is: the very first Project Blank 2017 group photo. A very promising one, if you ask us. This crazy bunch of people has only met twice before this photo was taken. And already we are rocking the self-timer.

From left to right:

Nina, Sanne, Simone, Hannah, Afra, Robbert, Ely, Cynthia, Jesús, Lydia, Jolijn, Karin, Larissa and Lot.

Let’s rock!