Deep in the heart of Amsterdam the first edition of GRAND took away the innocence of Dutch Royal Theatre Carre, for the first time ever allowing in a DJ to transform the beautiful surroundings within their ancient walls.
The World’s First Dance Music Ballet
If you’ve been wondering what Dutch electro-house star Fedde le Grand has been up to of late, the answer might surprise. It’s been a while since anyone “Put their hands up for Detroit,” but le Grand has been busy with a project straight out of left-field: he’s put together the world’s first ballet soundtracked by original dance music.
GRAND debuted last week at Amsterdam’s Royal Dutch Theatre and immediately sold out its first run; inthemix was backstage at the first show to see what it’s all about.
The weirdness of Fedde le Grand doing a ballet only really sinks in when inthemix is backstage at the Royal Theatre. There’s no warm-up act, and instead of industry types trying to spend drink vouchers, there’s a group of Dutch ballet dancers limbering up. The theatre bar itself is divided between “music people” dressed in black and un-showered, and “theatre people” in tuxedos and ball gowns. There’s free champagne, too. Then, the show starts.
Fedde lays down a groove of standard tech-house, pausing between tracks as various ballet dancers disappear and return in different outfits. There’s some sampling of earlier ‘90s tracks, all dropped subtly, and there’s even hint of a ‘Thriller’-style track. The ballet performance took no half measures, either, with trapeze artists swinging over the crowd, live singers and a horde of costumed dancers.
As for the crowd, there was no one reaching for the lasers – everyone sat with rapt attention until the show ended at midnight, then moved to the bar to discuss the show.
