ATLAS

Performance duo ROTOR, consisting of Hidde Aans-Verkade and Koen van der Heijden, received a grant to develop a new performance. ATLAS is a physical performance that examines the collective bearing of responsibility in a hyper-individualised society. Through elemental physical labour, they explore the notion of shared responsibility: not like Atlas carrying the heavens alone, but together.

Hidde and Koen form the core of ROTOR as creating performers, taking charge of concept development and often performing themselves. Both graduated from the Mime programme at the Academy of Theatre and Dance (ATD) in Amsterdam. The world of ROTOR revolves around the repetition of physical actions, drawing inspiration from a wide range of disciplines—from the Dutch Mime tradition to Kung Fu and free running.