The dansers behind GRIMM speak out

Like ISH graduate Raquel Tijsterman and Manu Kumar, a former Junior Company dancer and now a dancer with the Dutch National Ballet. Both were part of the original cast of the ballet-meets-hip-hop production GRIMM in 2018.

Raquel Tijsterman

Raquel Tijsterman began her dance career as a trainee with the Dutch National Ballet, but when a follow-up contract failed to materialise, she decided to explore the world of dance beyond ballet. That’s how she came into contact with ISH Dance Collective. Although she had hardly any experience with hip-hop, she immediately felt at home there. “The freedom I felt unlocked something in me that allowed me to really shine. I was accepted into ISH and learnt everything from my colleagues there. At the same time, I was also able to teach them things they hadn’t yet mastered. My technical skillset became my strength.”

The first collaborations between ISH and the Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company – Narnia (2015) and GRIMM (2018) – were a special trip down memory lane for Tijsterman. “At first it was quite nerve-wracking to be back, but it was also cool to be able to show: I’m still here.” During rehearsals, Tijsterman’s background also proved to be a major advantage. “I soon felt that I was a bridge between ISH and the Junior Company, because I know and understand both worlds. That allowed me to explain certain things and dispel mutual preconceptions.”

However, when shaping her role in GRIMM – that of Cinderella – she steered clear of a classical interpretation. “I was initially given ballet music to work with, but I didn’t think that was a good idea, because we now had the Junior Company for the classical skills. Besides, in my view, Cinderella is a feisty, tough, salsa-dancing girl. So we adapted that.” Next season, Tijsterman will once again step into the glittery trainers of this salsa princess. “It will be a new version of GRIMM, with a new group, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Manu Kumar

Former Junior Company dancer Manu Kumar, who played one of the seven dwarfs during the first run of GRIMM, found a personal interest in the collaboration with ISH: “As a child, I did breakdancing and parkour, with backflips and that sort of thing. So my interest was already in that area.”

And so he threw himself into GRIMM with great enthusiasm. “By combining ballet with street dance, breakdancing, popping and locking, interesting new visuals and a special chemistry emerged. You really step into a different world for a moment: with us, everything is usually very disciplined and serious, whereas the ISH dancers are more relaxed and immediately reveal more of themselves in the creative process. We found that really interesting and it ultimately made us more open too. What was also funny was that during the break, they’d often plonk a speaker down somewhere and then start freestyling against each other a bit. When you see them improvising like that, you can’t help but think: ‘Wow, that’s cool!’

His advice to the Junior Company cohort who will be taking on GRIMM next season is therefore: ‘Go with the flow! It’s great fun to work with a new group, so have fun, be silly and, above all, just be yourself, because everyone will definitely accept you.’

“I soon felt that I was a bridge between ISH and the Junior Company”

Rosalie Overing
Content Editor
Nationale Opera & Ballet