ONE OF A KIND

This work was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Interior as 
a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Dutch constitution. 
I have created it for the Nederlands Dans Theater in 1998. 

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles clarifying the 
basic rights, liberties and duties of all citizens. It is a complex 
legal document and a guideline for all people inhabiting one country. 
But the very first paragraph of the constitution of the Netherlands 
is very significant, and sets the tone for the entire document:
“All people living in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in 
equal circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion, 
belief, political opinion, race or gender or on any other grounds 
whatsoever shall not be permitted.”

This should be the cornerstone of any democratic principles, 
and of any serious attempt to coexist peacefully on our planet. 
But to translate this into choreography is not an easy task. 
Looking at it from a directors point of view, I realized, that dance 
companies are in fact miniatures of sovereign states. Yes, we are 
individuals with all the freedoms encrypted in our constitution, but 
how do we interpret them when confronted with the freedoms of 
other people....? How far does our tolerance go....? I am not a 
social scientist, but in my 24 years of directing the Nederlands 
Dans Theater, I have learned many lessons about coexistence, 
discipline and respect for each other.

While creating “One of a Kind” I was preoccupied by one question: 
„How can an individual exist within a group of other individuals...“ 
The complication lies in the diversity of people and the intricate 
makeup of each one of them. We might be able to write a million 
different “constitutions”, but we will never be able to encompass 
all the needs, and satisfy all the ambitions of every individual. 
Each one of us is a unique human being, but our uniqueness 
must be integrated into our society. We have based our existence 
on interdependence and we must learn to compromise.

	

The concept started gaining clarity, and the dialogue between 
a "Protagonist" and a "Group of individuals" seemed to be the 
right choice...
Together with my team, the Australian composer Brett Dean, 
Japanese architect Atsushi Kitagawara, fashion designer 
Yoshiki Hishinuma, and the German lighting designer Michael 
Simon, we have created a three act work based on this concept.
The "Protagonist" is a woman who starts dancing in the audience, 
makes her way onto the stage and spends there the entire evening 
including the breaks in which the stagehands change the set. 
She interacts with the entire community. At the end she is left on 
the stage alone dancing her farewell solo and finally disappearing...

The music by Brett Dean comprises many extremely contrasting 
musical components including music by Carlo Gesualdo, Benjamin 
Britten, the throat singing by the Inuit people, John Cage, 
an African song, music by Chiel Meijerink and many others. 

Atsushi Kitagawara’s award winning design is inspired by 
abstraction and random design. It creates extraordinary shapes 
and spaces which provide an unusually inspiring setting for the 
dancers. But it also provides symbols giving their journey a certain 
meaning and direction. The costumes by Yoshiki Hishinuma are 
actually “skins” enhancing the dancers'  appearance, and giving 
them a feeling of protection.The lighting design by Michael Simon 
doesn’t only make us aware of certain stage activities, but he also 
leads our eyes to seemingly less important events and areas we 
haven’t discovered yet. 

Making “One of a Kind” was a liberating trip, full of unexpected 
discoveries. The complex and delicate existence of an individual 
within a society is an ongoing and constantly evolving process. 
It will certainly keep challenging our ability to research and 
discover for centuries to come...

                    Jiří Kylián - The Hague, May 1, 2018