In 2009, when he was just twenty-five, Robert Dekkers came up with the concept for Post:Ballet to experiment with an eclectic range of artists by using dance as a means for creative expression in a way that is unexpected. Initially he spent his time developing a board and getting funding for their first program. Originally Post:Ballet was not intended to be a full-time company, and was instead project-based with one or two big productions each year, along with smaller collaborations. After Post:Ballet’s inaugural performance in 2010, Concert One, which included Milieu, Dekkers’ first collaboration with composer Daniel Berkman, and Happiness of Pursuit, his first with composer Jacob Wolkenhauer, the company was clearly destined to receive acclaim.
Named “25 to Watch” by DANCE magazine, Post:Ballet established an early reputation for its collaborations with eclectic artists and using dance to challenge social norms. Often touted as a company that uses dance to push boundaries, the expression to push boundaries sounds wistfully child-like. Call Post:Ballet edgy, groundbreaking or avant-garde; however you define the works created by Robert Dekkers, they are not child’s play. This is dance at its finest inception. It was also in 2010, when Dekkers premiered his first documentary short film, Ours, at the Frameline Festival in San Francisco’s Castro Theater as part of the HIV Story Project’s full-length film Still Around. Post:Ballet was named ‘Best New Dance’ of San Francisco by 7×7 Magazine.
For the last few years Dekkers has worked with Dancer/Choreographer Vanessa Thiessen. “She and I danced at ODC/Dance then at Post:Ballet over the years,” Dekkers says. “Together we worked on a piece for Grand Rapids Ballet. It was a great experience for the both of us. In the last few years, we have continued making works together. She’ll work on choreography and I’ll work on the direction.” In collaboration with Thiessen, Dekkers has created five works.
MINE IS
YOURS
(In the rain, dark and fog)