Claudia Quaglia and Danys Vanderhaeghen’s playful performance ‘À force d’être à deux’ (Through being together) is a crash course on the evolution of expression. Two performers grow up in front of our eyes, going from taking turns in hopscotch to taking turns with increasingly intricate dance solos in a matter of minutes. The show weaves themes of coming of age together with street dance and free jazz and funk music in a beautiful way. 

For Claudia and Danys I recorded two jazz musicians – bass player Hudson Knott and drummer Max Sergeant – as they improvised and solo’d over funk and disco grooves. Our recording session at IJland Studios in Amsterdam centred on playing with joy and creative freedom. As the music and the movements come together in the performance, it is a celebration of how these styles and these traditions have always been advanced by their playfulness and two people trying to one-up each other.

photo: Michiel Goudswaard