30 appearances out of darkness Mesmerizing, mysterious, and hypnotic, 30 appearances out of darkness is a performance about disappearing — and appearing.
Arno Schuitemaker: “Maybe it is proof that I am getting older, but I feel that I am less and less resisting the vulnerability of life.
When I was reading Derek Jarman’s book Chroma some of his words resonated with me: Is black hopeless? Doesn’t every dark thundercloud have a silver lining? In black lies the possibility of hope.
It led me to want to reflect on the significance of this paradox, and how it can shape and define us for the better. Why do we sometimes fear what we desire most? It is a question I can’t let go of. I want to fear less.
Maybe we should find enlightenment by disappearing in darkness, if only to be able to come out on the other side.” Impressive images emerge from a pitch-black, sometimes on the threshold of our perception.
Assumptions that we make are being challenged. A group of performers moves across the stage. Not everyone is visible at the same time, but their presence is always tangible. They appear and disappear, never in the same way — found, lost, and sought again.
This world, it seems, emits its own gravity and all get absorbed into a new, borderless dimension with an ever-shifting dynamic. As ominous as it may be, this darkness, this pitch-black, becomes a place of infinite potential. Hopefulness is risky, since after all it is a form of trust, trust in the unknown and possible.

Hope in the Dark — Rebecca Solnit

30 appearances out of darkness premieres at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam on June 9, 2022