A Myth for Piano Mees Vervuurt + Mees Siderius

Martinus Nijhoff and Mees Vervuurt

'Just read, it doesn’t say what it says,’ the Dutch poet Martinus Nijhoff wrote. It could be a motto of the elusive young creator Mees Vervuurt. A Myth for Piano is an intriguing solo performance at the crossroads of dance, installation art and physical theatre. Slowly, but with great intensity, percussionist Mees Siderius moves through a mysterious twilight of horizontal threads. Eerie creaking and crackling fill the air. The threads or strings come from an upright piano, but Vervuurt’s actual instrument is your imagination. What do I see? What do I hear? What do I feel?

Mees Vervuurt is a resident composer-director in the Muziekgebouw Production House. He creates musical performances for specific places, in close collaboration with performers. These are poetic, dreamlike realms where music, visuals, movement and space intertwine. The character in A Myth for Piano evokes the image of Sisyphus, eternally condemned to roll his immense boulder up a hill. The work serves as a preliminary study for the larger performance A Myth, which Vervuurt will present in 2025. Vervuurt is also making an international name for himself and previously worked at Opera North in Leeds and The Alternative Conservatoire in London.