It’s SPRING in Utrecht
Before we get to the serious business of walking in Holland (there will be three easy hikes in the days to come), first, an urgent note about something that we have come across on our recent trip to the Netherlands. Urgent because, unlike the walks, it will not be there for long. Actually, you have to really hurry up in order to catch any of the productions at the first SPRING in Utrecht, a festival for the performing arts, because the event will close next Sunday.
Performances – featuring anything from vibrating tabletops to Chinese cooking lessons as well as more “orthodox” presentations by theatre and dance companies from all over Europe – are staged throughout the city, although most of the action takes place in the town’s two theatres.
I know some people think that “this sort of stuff” is not for them. These people are wrong. Art is for everybody, and to understand most of it, all you need is an open mind. It does not matter what it is that you are watching: it may be something by Shakespeare, by Beckett or by a dance troupe from Uzbekistan.
If you go there thinking “this will go over my head”, you are indeed unlikely to find much delight in the performances – featuring anything from vibrating tabletops to Chinese cooking lessons as well as more “orthodox” presentations by theatre and dance companies from all over Europe – such as the Greek theatre group Blitz.
If, on the other hand, you are willing to meet the work on its own terms, you will be surprised how much joy it can bring you. Try it!
But if you can’t make it until this Sunday, there is always next year: SPRING in Utrecht is determined to become a fixture on the international calendar of festivals for the performing arts.
