More photos.....

Just check it out HERE!

The steel silhouettes of SLEM's landscape architects are here made ready for shipping. Approximate 160 of them were sold.

See the SLEM slideshow

Sudden death OEROL

Without any further explanation the announced spectacular last happening of the Oerol-festival was cancelled. The planned concert of Nynke Laverman with Paco Fernandez on the special for this occasion build stage and the planned firework of Ephémère did not find place. Thousands of people got a kick under the ass! Just take your bicycle or your bus and go home. No plan B! Oerol is over! This cancellation without further notice is a contempt of it's faithfull visitors.
Good God! Just imagine what would have happened if the Oerol-audience was football-audience......

Hopefully the real reason of this unprofessional behaviour will become clear in a couple of days.

The Nits & Zita Swoon

The Nits and Zita Swoon performing on the stage of the windy Groene Strand (Green Beach) on Terschelling. They were not meant to be the final act. But due to strong winds the final act in the evening is been cancelled.

Meet

Zita Swoon

Meet the Nits

Un horizonte cuadrado

Yesterday evening we visited the air ballet of Compañia de Paso from Chile. Three women and three men against the dark sky holding hands and feet and swinging through the air. A great showpiece!

Some more photos HERE

All That Fall

The Flemish theatre group Comp. Marius played a new translation of

Beckett's one-act radioplay All That Fall/Lovely Day for the Races from 1957.

Allen Die Vallen/Schonen Dag Voor De Paardenkoers!

is a text with tight structure and licentious morals.

More photos HERE

http://www.marius.be/

Walking in Jamaican style

It starts with an enormous black hole in the ground on the southside of the island. Dark and low earthsounds and vibrations come out of it.

The performance Walking ends in a huge white cone with heavenly noises in the dunes in the north.

In between there is slow walking. Like your a real time walking through a still life of Terschelling nature. Forgetting the time and leaving your watch behind. Robert Wilson used to spend his holidays in a small village somewhere on an other island. Jamaica. Probably he got his inspiration of his landscape art there. Hear the reggae music of that island and take a spliff and you will never run again!

Walking is the most prestigious and probably the most expensive project of the festival. This special Oerol experience has been made possible with the money of Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, VSBfonds and Nederlands Fonds voor Podiumkunsten+ AND the 20 euro of your ticket! Walking is a strange experience, but worthwhile. After four hours my Jamaican walk endend on the beach. And I could not resist running to Heartbreak Hotel for a nice beer.....

For my eyes only

Esbjörn Svensson died in diving accident!

Pianist Esbjorn Svensson Dead at 44

Swedish jazz musician Esbjörn Svensson, 44 years old, died during a diving accident yesterday outside of Vrmdö near Stockholm.
He was in a company of divers on Saturday June 14th at a Swedish jetty/landing stage under supervision of a dive-leader when he was found severely injured at the bottom. Resuscitation was unsuccessful. The police will investigate the cause of Svensson's death. The announcement of the death came as a shock for the chairman of the Swedish Jazz Society: “He was a big name way outside of Sweden."
In 1995 and 1996 Esbjörn Svensson was selected the jazz musician of the year in Sweden.
Esbjorn Svensson Trio, or e.s.t. (not to be confused with Italian Band Electro Shock Therapy), is a Swedish jazz piano trio with Esbjorn Svensson, Dan Berglund (double bass) and Magnus Öström (drums).
e.s.t is renowned for its vibrant style--playing in rock venues to young crowds. It has achieved great commercial success and critical acclaim throughout Europe. From Gagarin's Point of View (ACT, 1999) started its international breakthrough, being the first e.s.t. album to be released outside of Scandinavia.

Source: All About Jazz

A voyage for two centaurs

They were last year on the island with their production Cargo with two Friesian horses and a donkey. The production was a huge tent on far east point of the island, called Elvisplak.

This year the two Friesian horses are back on their native soil. Isola bianca FLUX is an early new open air production of the French Théâtre du Centaure. Actually it is a study for their newcoming production FLUX.

In the light of (French!!) cars a female centaure appears in the woods. She dances on the sounds of whispering voices and the air is filled with desire. Then she leaves at full gallop towards the sea. The audience follows silent accompanied by only whispering voices. The voyage for love has started. On top of the dunes suddenly the silhout of a male centaure appears. Two centaurs are running on th beach and find eachother and their love. At first the centaurs take in seat in a chair in a dip of the dunes. The air is filled with a loving desire. We are the silent witnesses of the game of two caressing and fondling centaurs.........

Photos

Festival opens

The festival is opened!

Chairman Kees van Twist, Artistic Director (and new Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres) Joop Mulder and American theatermaker Robert Wilson opened the 27th edition of the Oerol festival.

The sobre happening found place on the festivalground Westerkeyn.

The festival will end June 22.

Oerol vibes....

New theatre location due to breading owls

The old barn of Jan van Teake has been an all time favorite theaterlocation for over the years. Last year Wende Snijders did there a very intimate performance together with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
This year theatermakers Marle Brouwer and Bart Rijnink planned a performance with physical theater with the choreography of again Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Coincidence? Unfortunately it is not possible to enter the old barn.

Due to two breading owl the performance of Fantasten is moved from the barn of Jan van Taeke to the barn of Spanjer in Lies, about 850 meter eastwards on the island. The estimated traveltime on bicycle is 3 minutes more!

320 metal silhouets move along the beach

In 10 days an army of over 300 metal silhouets move along the beach of Terschelling. Today they were all placed East of Heartbreak Hotel. They have be moved backwards by the audience over a distance of about 20 kilometers. That means they have to be carried 2 kilometers a day. I am wondering if the finish will be reached. Some parts of the beach are very remote and are not easy to find on foot.

All the frames carry wise expressions considering time, e.g. One hour more is one hour less.

Heartbreak hotel

The last beachpavillion (Paal 18) is Heartbreakhotel. It is dedicated to Elvis Presley and has an atmosphere of the sixties and is painted in fancy colors like yellow and pink. A few years ago the used to have a pink Cadillac parked on the roof.
The drinks and the food are excellent and are real Elvis-size. You should try the huge hamburgers full of calories!!

Office

This is my office and bedroom for a couple of weeks......

www.eddywestveer.com

Oerol, the festival.....

WHAT IS OEROL?
Oerol means everywhere!

The island
Oerol is the name of an ancient Terschelling tradition, when in spring milder weather conditions allowed cattle to be released from their winter stables and barns to roam the meadows surrounding the villages, grazing in freedom. A merry sight announcing the longed for summer season after the dark winter. In Terschelling dialect the word “oerol” stands for “everywhere” and this centuries old atmosphere of dynamic merriment all over the island is perfectly given shape by the Terschelling Oerol Festival.
Every year for a period of 10 days everywhere on the island the Oerol Festival activities reflect the joy and happiness of this“ everywhe feeling. Over 50,000 people visit the island festival and some 70,000 tickets are sold for the various performances organized during the Festival.

Terschelling as a stage
The underlying philosophy of the Oerol Festival is that the whole island of Terschelling in those 10 days serves as a stage and source of inspiration for national and international theatre producers, musicians and graphic artists. Beaches, woods, dunes and older landscape eminently function as both stage scene and setting. But shows can also take place in a farm-shed, a boathouse or an old bunker.
The so-called barn theatre has over the years become a traditional conception. But the street theatre, cementing a link ar excellence between performers and islanders remains a standard item in the whole range of stage activities in the widest sense of the word and will always keep its traditional place in the Festival.
The Terschelling Oerol Festival can boast of having the widest choice of stage locations in the world. At over 60 locations temporary theatres are realized in a perfectly professional manner. Apart from open-air facilities, tents are raised at various sites in Terschellings attractive natural resources. But it is mostly in barns, sheds, attics, ship’s holds and other spaces temporarily put at the Festival’s disposal by the hospitable island population, where the action takes place. Some slight adaptations reshape them into cosy, intimate little theatres.
So when making a total sum of the available music stands in the many Terschelling pubs, the open-air stages on the two main festival sites - Groene Strand (Green Beach) and Westerkeyn - the ad hoc stages in the village streets and the exhibitions of fine arts, one gets an idea what Oerol - Everywhere stands for!

Theme
Every year Oerol chooses a theme closely linked with the island. inspiration is provided by the island itself, but themes tend to reflect world politics as well. This thematic approach is a perfect means to interpret actual history linked to the unique island atmosphere. Some theatre groups focus more intensively on items connected with the local cultural heritage. They aim at providing a creative interpretation of the values and significance of the island. Good Site secific theatre tends to pot for a contemporary line of approach. Of prime importance is to reach understanding of history from today’s point of view. The voyages of the famous exlorers, the elements, the landscape or news items from common society – these may all be the base for the theatermaker to create his artistic interpretation of what Oerol stands for.

The Oerol vibe
During Oerol a special feeling is developed in having a large public partake intimately with a fragile natural heritage as dunes and Wadden scenery. The festival brings people from all over the globe together, starting a socialization process already on the ferry trip, which is further developed by being in close proximity on a small island for 10 days, making friends everywhere on their way to happenings and during performances. This socialization process allows the stageperformers to exceed traditional boundaries and create refreshingly new works of histrionic art.

A perfect day for the beach

't Golfje

Yesterday evening we had dinner at one of our most popular restaurants on the island. The restaurant named by a former "midget golf" at this location is owned by partners in business Auke and Helga. Helga runs the kitchen while Auke takes care of the guests. Restaurant 't Golfje is the first non-smoking establishment on the island, already anticipating on the Dutch non-smoking law starting the first of July.
They serve a surprising mix of Mediterranean Cuisine and Oriental cooking with fresh ingredients. All in combination with excellent wines.
We were so lucky to could eat outside on this beautiful summer evening and have a great view on the Terschellinger polder land and the dunes at the horizon.

Hello, here Terschelling

Goodmorning Terschelling,
Today my first day on the beautiful island of Terschelling. We arrived yesterday evening late with the boat from Harlingen. In the harbour we were welcomed by our friends Jos and Lex with some nice words and some cranberrybrandy.

In about one week here the Oerol festival starts. In preparation for it I am reading all about the program.
Today it's a beautiful day and I hope I just can enjoy the sun and meet some old and new friends!

EVEN GEEN NIEUWS

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Twee nachtjes Amsterdam.......