David Middendorp

Biography & Curriculum vitae

David Middendorp started as a dancer at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague at the age of sixteen. He soon felt more drawn towards modern dance and therefore decided to join Codarts in Rotterdam. Here, he won the Dansersfonds scholarship of ’79, which enabled him to study at The Julliard School in New York for a short period of time. Middendorp started his professional dance career at the company Introdans, where he performed in works by choreographers such as Nils Christe, Ton Wiggers and Conny Janssen, amongst others.

Middendorp continued his dancing career with the Saarländische Staatstheater and the Ballet Theater München. Here, he created his first choreographies Bread-peace (2002) and Dreamsketch (2003) under the direction of Philip Taylor. This latter piece became part of the Ballet Theater München’s repertoire in 2005. In 2004 Middendorp returned to The Hague where he created several pieces for Korzo productions, all known for Middendorp’s ingenious combination of dance and technology.

In the following years Middendorp created choreographies for Korzo and Introdans, for both adults, as well as for the youth. His works have been performed at festivals such as Lowlands, the Parade, Oerol and at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. In addition to his own productions, Middendorp also created video scenery for other makers, such as the Dutch Don’t Dance Division (DDDDD), Percossa and the Meekers.

In 2014, Middendorp was asked to perform in the TV programme America’s Got Talent, where he reached the finals. This was followed by the first full-evening performance Blue Technology of Middendorp’s company Another Kind of Blue (AKOB), which was shown in over sixty Dutch theatres. AKBO also performed at events such as the VII Gala International de Ballet de Buenos Aires, Youth America Grand Prix Gala (New York), Context (Moscow), Kuopio Dance Festival, Holland Dance Festival and Festival de Nederlandse Dansdagen (The Dutch Dance Festival).

In addition to AKOB’s regular programme, the company also performed for international organisations such as Mastercard, IBM, the Royal family of Abu Dhabi and others. In The Netherlands, Another Kind of Blue created the new choreography Painting (2017) for a tour of Introdans. A year later, the company presented the full evening programme Flirt with Reality, which had its premiere on October 20, 2018 in the Zuiderstrandtheater in The Hague, and subsequently toured throughout the country until February 2019. With this same programme AKBO performed at Sadler’s Wells, London in July 2019. In March 2019 the company performed Airman for the ministries of the Netherlands. In May 2019 Middendorp was invited to speak at Technart in Bilboa, Spain. In September Middendorp did a lecture about the combination of dance and technology at the TU Delft. In 2020 AKOB created the new dance piece Wereldleiders in co-production with Introdans for GEK GEZICHT, a full-length production where Middendorp’s previous pieces Face Machine and Blue Journey were also shown. In October 2020 Middendorp introduced AKOB’s stunning choreography in virtual reality HandsON, a co-production with Festival de Nederlandse Dansdagen Digitaal in October 2020. The new full-length production Wave is scheduled for 2021.

Timeline

2021

  • Tour “WAVE”, The Netherlands
  • “Airman”, World Expo Dubai
  • “Airman”, Studium Generale, TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands
  • Premiere “The Great Escape”, for the Dutch abroad
  • Premiere “Whether a Wall”, Koningsdag (Kingsday), Eindhoven, The Netherlands in cooperation with Chagall and Sioux Technologies
  • “HandsON” launched as VR-game for Steam Store
2021

2020

  • “HandsON”, Korzo, The Hague, The Netherlands
  • Premier “World Leaders” (Co-production with Introdans)
  • “Face Machine”, “Blue Journey”, in co-production with Introdans
  • “HandsON” in co-production with Dutch Dance Festival Digital, The Netherlands
2020

2019

  • “Airman 1”, The Hague, event for Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands
  • “Flyland in a Room”, Beirut, Lebanon (guest appearance Arab’s Got Talent)
  • Presentation “Airman”, Bilbao, Spain (Technart Conference)
  • “Flyland in a Room”, Paris, France (Hermes)
  • ‘’Airman 1’’, Nederlandse Dansdagen, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2019

2018

  • “Flyland in a Room”, Abu Dhabi, UAE (Sustainability Week)
  • “Flyland in a Room”, The Hague, Nederland
    (Opening gala at Holland Dance Festival)
  • Tour “Flirt with Reality”, The Netherlands
2018

2017

  • Premiere “Painting”, Introdans
  • “Flyland 2”, at Dutch Dance Festival, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • “Think Bold” for IBM in Cannes, France
  • “Flyland 2”, in Venice, Italy
2017

2016

  • Britain’s Got Talent (semi-finalist)
  • International Ballet Gala, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Gast performance America’s Got Talent (with Andra Day)
  • Gues performance “Wilkommen bei Carmen Nebel”
  • Reprise “Blue Technology”, The Netherlands
  • ‘’Flyland in a Room’’, Dutch Dance Festival Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • Corporate events
2016

2015

  • “Blue Journey”, Singapore, American Express
  • Premiere “A dark flirt with grafity”, Delft Moves, The Netherlands
  • Lezing Dance and Technology at “TOP, Delft”, The Netherlands
  • Tour “Blue Technology”, The Netherlands
  • America’s Got Talent theater tour
  • Guests perform on NBC, Arab’s Got Talent
  • International Festival of Technology
  • A Day of Wonder
  • Free to Move festival
2015

2014

  • Premiere “Flyland”, Oerol 2014, The Netherlands
  • Premiere “Newtons Duet, the test”, Parade 2014, The Netherlands
  • Top 12 America’s Got Talent
  • “Blue Journey”, Grand prix, Monaco
  • Top 12 America’s Got Talent
  • “Flyland”, Oerol, The Netherlands
  • Festival de Parade, The Netherlands
  • Bergamo
2014

2013

  • Premiere “3 Rooms”, Cadance Festival
  • “3 Rooms” tour, The Netherlands
    (in Dansclick tour)
  • “Flyland preview” Première, Oerol, The Netherlands
  • Context Moscow Diana
  • Visneva
  • Mini tour through Germany (Dance Company Schweinfurt)
  • Dansclick
  • Leverkusen
2013

2012

  • “Mixed bill” David Middendorp Leverkusen and Schweinfurt
  • ”Bread-Piece”, Introdans, The Netherlands
  • Set design and animation “De Notenkraker” by DeDDDD
  • “Black Journey”, TEDx Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • “Black Journey”, openingact Linda Kippenvelconcert at Heineken Music
  • Kandisky app
  • Dance date
  • “Hall”
  • Dutch Summer Dance Course (Workshop)
  • “Blue Journey” (extended)
  • “Mixed bill” Curitiba Brazil (Dance Bienale)
  • Vivadance Festival International (Curitiba Brasil)
2012

2011

  • “Blue Journey” en “Bread-peace’’, Lowlands 2011, The Netherlands
  • Dance and multimedia workshop for Dutch Summer Dance Course
  • “15 Minute Universe”, Dansclick
  • “K.O”, Percossa (animation / set design)
2011

2010

  • "15 Minute Universe", World Expo, Shanghai
    Premiere “Moon Shadow”
  • Première “Tafelen”, produced by Theater Bureau Frontaal, The Netherlands
  • Video design Hard Shoulder, Marije Nie
2010

2009

  • Premiere “15 Minute Universe”, Korzo Theater, The Netherlands
  • “15 Minute Universe” Lowlands and Broom Festival, The Netherlands
  • Premiere “Mr. hands”, Parade 2009, The Netherlands
2009

2008

  • Premiere ”Blue Journey”, Introdans, The Netherlands
  • Premiere ”Schuilnaamschaduw”, Stella The Hague, The Netherlands
  • Première ”After Dark”, Parade Festival, The Netherlands
2008

2007

  • “Petty Thief” by Ballet Theater Munich
  • Premiere “Bass hatch”
  • Tour Dream Sketeches
  • Dream Sketches, Parade Festival, The Netherlands
  • Premiere “Murph!”, De Meekers
    (set design and animation)
2007

2006

  • “Bread-Peace”, Introdans
    Première “Kruimeldief”, Korzo Theater, The Netherlands
  • “As it Fades”, 2days Art Festival, The Netherlands
  • “Dreamsketch”, Dansclick tour, The Netherlands
  • “Dreamsketch”, Cadance Festival, The Netherlands
  • “Petty Thief”, Dance & Child International (DACI) Festival
2006

2005

  • “Bread-Peace”, Dance-pro Norway
  • “Dreamsketch”, Ballet Theater Munich
2005

2004

  • The "Bread-Peace
    Korzo Theater The Hague, The Netherlands
  • Premiere “As it Fades”
    Cadance Festival, The Netherlands
2004

2003

  • “Dreamsketch” premiere, workshop,
    Ballet Theater München
2003

2002

  • “Bread-Peace” premiere,
    workshop Ballet Theater Munich
2002
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