Nikki van Rijswijk
Who are you as a performer/artist?
To put down into words who I am as a performer has been a challenge since it is changing constantly and extremely intricate. What I know for certain is that it is connected to who I am as a person. I am open, curious, independent, headstrong, sensitive, a team player who loves to work with others but also needs her time alone. All of this makes me who I am as a performer. At the same time dance also allows me to be more of a character with completely different qualities that stand further away from who I am personally. This versatility is part of the reason I love the arts so much, anything is possible.
What are your ambitions?
This last year I have realised again that, although it is extremely hard, tiering and frustrating, performing and dancing is what fulfils me the most. Strangers that watched a performance have come up to me and told me that they were touched by what they saw. Being able to create this connection and enjoy myself while doing it is why I do what I do. My ambition in this moment is to work somewhere as a dancer where there is a healthy work environment with inspiring people that help me grow. I want to keep developing and do more things that scare me, touch audiences with art and create meaningful connections with amazing people.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in many different things:
Physical sensations and movements, how do they feel, what do they mean. Other people, people close to me like colleagues, friends and family, and further away in society, but also social constructs and social norms. Nature, the way plants move in the wind, the sound of water splashing, the energy that being in nature gives me or how this can calm me down. Connecting all of the examples above are emotions, feelings and thoughts. I have come to the conclusion that my biggest inspiration is live itself.
What did you do at your internship & what did you learn?
For my internship, I spent the whole season with the dance ensemble of Palztheater Kaiserslautern in Germany under the direction of Luisa Sancho Escanero. I learned an already existing piece, which I got to perform on tour in Zaragoza, Spain. Next to that I was part of the creation of six new pieces which I performed throughout the season on the smaller and bigger stage of the theatre and toured twice in Germany.
In every piece I did something that I had never done before, and the movement languages were extremely different. This asked of me to switch constantly, and every time explore something else. This was not always easy, and it sometimes took me time to be able to make that switch, but I found my ways. I learned to go with whatever comes my way and at the same time know when it is enough and how to communicate this. In this year I felt what it means to be part of a company. You have to work together, on good days and bad days, on productions that you find amazing and on productions that fit you less. You step in to a pre-existing system that has its ways, but I had amazing colleagues that made me feel at home very quickly.
All people need time to sit around and do nothing."
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