Imre van Opstal & Marne van Opstal are international choreographers, movement directors and performing artists, as siblings they form a creative duo. Their work has been presented internationally. After having enjoyed successful and prominent careers at the prestigious Nederlands Dans Theater 1 & 2 and/or Batsheva Dance Company, they went on to pursue their own creativity.
The collaborative nature of their work often speaks to the human condition, limits and possibilities of the body and mind. Their work is known to be multi-layered and surrealistic, with a strong and outspoken dance language known for its eclecticism, theatricality and partnering elements.
Through their work they explore a wide range of topics that are often rooted in their direct reflection of society and the workings of the natural world. Continually looking to break and deconstruct movement by finding the fringes of what is possible through the medium of dance. They are looking to find multidisciplinary collaborations within theatre, film, photography, fashion, design, installation art etc. with a focus on the artistic process and hope to find new ways to communicate with an audience.
They created ‘LiNK’ and ‘John Doe’ for Nederlands Dans Theater 2 program ‘Up & Coming Choreographers’ after which they debuted with their work ‘The Grey’ for their regular programming. In 2019 they created ‘Take Root’ for Nederlands Dans Theater 1, which received a nomination for the Swan Award for ‘best dance production’. Their latest work, ‘Baby don’t hurt me’ created for Nederlands Dans Theater 1 around the themes of identity, sexuality, gender and love was met with critical acclaim. After which they continued to create ‘Eye Candy’ for Rambert Dance Company, ‘The little man’ for Nationaltheater Mannheim, ‘I’m afraid to forget your smile’ for the Hessian State Ballet, ‘Heart Drive’ for Ballet BC, ‘Mommy, Look!’ for Ballett Theater Basel and ‘To Kingdom Come’ for GoteborgOperans Danskompani.
Throughout the years they have collaborated with composers, designers /visual artists, directors and brands on multidisciplinary projects. Such as Dior, Amos Ben-Tal, Tom Visser, Fabienne Vegt, Fabiana Piccioli, Ry X, Lykke Li, Asaf Avidan, Joep Beving, The Blaze, Bakermat, Anna Zak & Fat Joe, Noa Kirel, Rahi Rezvani, Jordan Wolfson, Isamaya Ffrench, Theo Lindquist, Benjamin Hardman, Robbie Lawrence, Samuel Bradley, András Ladocsi, Marsell, Replay, Escada, Scotch & Soda, Hudson’s Bay, Paco Rabanne among others.
They have been featured or had work published in various news papers and magazines such as Vogue, The Wallstreet Journal, Purple Magazine, Elle Magazine, L’Officiel, L’Officiel Hommes, Numero, Grazia, HUF Magazine, Boys by Girls Magazine, Dance Magazine, Masters Magazine, Ssaw Magazine and more.
Dance has been a corner stone in the ‘van Opstal’ family, as all siblings are professional dancers and continu to make an impact in the dance world. Both Myrthe and Xanthe have enjoyed successful careers with both Nederlands Dans Theater and Batsheva Dance Company. ‘Beat the Dutch’ followed them for a year resulting in the documentary ‘Same Difference’ which was broadcasted on Dutch national television.
