Tjitske Broersma
Information
Since season 1973/74 | becoming an ensemble member |
Until season 1977/78 | becoming an ensemble member |
Biography
Tijtske Boersma
Dutch dancer Tjitske Broersma was born in 1946 in Soemobito, Indonesia. She completed her dance education in the Netherlands between 1966 and 1969, studying classical ballet, modern dance and dance pedagogy at the Rotterdamse Dansacademie (now Codarts University of the Arts). During this time she also attended workshops led by Yuriko Kikuchi, Mary Hinkson, Betty Jones, Hans van Manen, Dorle Hoffman, Martha Eddy, Ciel Wertz and Fran Parker, and worked with choreographers Lucas Hoving, Bianca van Dillen, Lynn Simonson, Kurt Jooss, Gerhard Bohner and
Gigi-Gheorghe Caciuléanu as well as with Agnes de Mille’s assistant, Vernon Lusby. After graduating, she performed with the Rotterdams Danscentrum, under the direction of Ineke Sluiter, from 1969 to 1971. This is where she was spotted by Pina Bausch, who invited her to join the Folkwang Ballet (1971–73) and took her with her to become part of Tanztheater Wuppertal in 1973.
From modern dance to dance theatre
Being one of the original members of Tanztheater Wuppertal, Tjitske Broersma contributed to the genesis of this new form – dance theatre. She performed in the premieres of Fritz, the Gluck operas Iphigenie auf Tauris and Orpheus und Eurydike, the Stravinsky triple bill, the double bill Die Sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins), Blaubart. Beim Anhören einer Tonbandaufnahme von Béla Bartóks Oper “Herzog Blaubarts Burg” (Bluebeard. While Listening to a Tape Recording of Béla Bartók’s Opera “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle”), Komm tanz mit mir and Renate wandert aus. She saw her work with Pina Bausch not as a job but as a passion, and considered her time there extraordinarily inspiring, both personally and professionally. Key elements that she brought to her later work include absolute integrity in one’s work, and attention to every detail of a choreography. Broersma left Tanztheater Wuppertal in 1978, although she retained her links as a guest performer for a further two years. In Rotterdam, she worked as a dancer and choreographer with Penta Theater, a collective that questioned current dance conventions and introduced other disciplines into its performances. With Penta Theater, she toured to France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Sweden and Singapore.
Inspirational teacher
In 1986 Broersma gave up her active dance career and became artistic director (until 1990) of Danscentrum Utrecht, which quickly became one of the most important amateur dance schools in the Netherlands. She encouraged her students to develop their own pieces and, with her own choreography, Two Lips (1991), set new standards for working with amateurs in a professional setting. From the early 1990s on, Broersma intensified her studies of choreography and dance theory, taking courses in Laban Movement Analysis at the Rotterdamse Dansacademie and studying choreology with Valerie Preston-Dunlop in London. In addition, she was a member of the funding commission for amateur productions at the National Centre for Amateur Dance (LCA), has sat on dance festival juries, written choreography analyses, collaborated with choreography colleagues, and been a guest lecturer and speaker. At the Rotterdamse Dansacademie, she supervised the internships of trainee dance teachers, and she was guest teacher with several Dutch dance companies. She has also lectured at schools of art in Amsterdam, Arnhem, Utrecht, and at the Academia Superior de Artes in Bogotá, Columbia. Her work as a teacher of dance and choreography is aimed as much at professional as at amateur dancers. Apart from creating her own choreographies, Tjitske Broersma has also worked on many theatre productions. With her varied interests and broad educational background, she has made a name for herself as an innovative and inspiring force whose main aim is to create as broad a base and as wide an audience for dance as possible. Because dance is more than a profession for Broersma – it is also a passion, part of life intensely lived.
Text by Norbert Servos
Translated by Rachel McNicholl
Gallery
Premieres
Piece | Fritz |
Date | 5 January 1974 |
Venue | Opernhaus Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany |
Choreografische Assistenz | Hans Pop |
Dance | Carlos Orta |
Catherine Denisot | |
Charlotte Butler | |
Dominique Mercy | |
Ed Kortlandt | |
Gabriel Sala | |
Heinz Samm | |
Jan Minařík | |
John Giffin | |
João Penalva | |
Malou Airaudo | |
Marlis Alt | |
Monika Sagon | |
Monika Wacker | |
Riitta Laurikainen | |
Tjitske Broersma | |
Vivienne Newport | |
Wolf-Werner Wolf | |
Stagehand | Helmut Kühne |
Lighting | Hans-Joachim Deinert |
Make-up | Heinz Dildey |
Sound | Horst Kersten |
Artistic director | Pina Bausch |
Ballet master | Hans-Dieter Klos |
Repetition | Werner Precht |
Technical direction | Rolf Bachmann |
Stage manager | Werner Hartkopf |
Source of cast | Evening leaflet for “Fritz” by Pina Bausch, “Rodeo” by Agnes de Mille and “The green Table” by Kurt Jooss in in Wuppertal, Jan. 5, 1974 |
Discover photos, videos and more in the archives | Browse the archives |
Piece | Orpheus und Eurydike |
Date | 23 May 1975 |
Venue | Opernhaus Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany |
Dance | Barbara Passow-Diekamp |
Barry Wilkinson | |
Colleen Finneran-Meessmann | |
Dominique Mercy | |
Heinz Samm | |
Hiltrud Blanck | |
Jan Minařík | |
Lajos Horvath | |
Laszlo Fenyves | |
Malou Airaudo | |
Margaret Huggenberger | |
Marlis Alt | |
Michael Diekamp | |
Monika Sagon | |
Monika Wacker | |
Pedro José Mascarello Bisch | |
Stephanie Macoun | |
Sue Cooper | |
Tjitske Broersma | |
Vivienne Newport | |
Yolanda Meier | |
Singer | Bozena Kinasz |
Kristina Eckert | |
Lois White | |
Choir | Werner Wilke |
Stagehand | Helmut Kühne |
Lighting | Hans-Joachim Deinert |
Make-up | Heinz Dildey |
Sound | Horst Kersten |
Souffleuse | Else Hildesheim |
Ballet master | Hans-Dieter Klos |
Ballettkorrepetition | Werner Precht |
Technical direction | Rolf Bachmann |
Stage manager | Walter Maiser |
Source of cast | Booklet for “Orpheus und Eurydike” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, May 23, 1975 |
Evening leaflet for “Orpheus und Eurydike” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, May 23, 1975 |
Discover photos, videos and more in the archives | Browse the archives |
Piece | The Rite of Spring |
Date | 3 December 1975 |
Venue | Opernhaus Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany |
Dance | Barbara Passow-Diekamp |
Barry Wilkinson | |
Colleen Finneran-Meessmann | |
Ed Kortlandt | |
Erwin Fritsche | |
Esco Edmondson | |
Fernando Cortizo | |
Guy Detot | |
Heinz Samm | |
Hiltrud Blanck | |
Jan Minařík | |
Josephine Ann Endicott | |
Lajos Horvath | |
Laszlo Fenyves | |
Lutz Förster | |
Margaret Huggenberger | |
Marie-Luise Thiele | |
Marlis Alt | |
Michael Diekamp | |
Monika Sagon | |
Monika Wacker | |
Pedro José Mascarello Bisch | |
Stephanie Macoun | |
Sue Cooper | |
Tjitske Broersma | |
Vivienne Newport | |
Yolanda Meier | |
Stagehand | Paul Aron |
Lighting | Hans-Joachim Deinert |
Make-up | Heinz Dildey |
Sound | Horst Kersten |
Ballet master | Hans-Dieter Klos |
Ballettkorrepetition | Werner Precht |
Technical direction | Rolf Bachmann |
Stage manager | Herbert Görsch |
Source of cast | Evening leaflet for “The Rite of Spring”, “Wind From West” and “The Second Spring” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, Dec. 3, 1975 |
Discover photos, videos and more in the archives | Browse the archives |
Piece | Wind From West |
Date | 3 December 1975 |
Venue | Opernhaus Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany |
Dance | Barbara Passow-Diekamp |
Barry Wilkinson | |
Colleen Finneran-Meessmann | |
Ed Kortlandt | |
Esco Edmondson | |
Fernando Cortizo | |
Heinz Samm | |
Hiltrud Blanck | |
Jan Minařík | |
Josephine Ann Endicott | |
Lajos Horvath | |
Laszlo Fenyves | |
Margaret Huggenberger | |
Marlis Alt | |
Michael Diekamp | |
Monika Sagon | |
Monika Wacker | |
Pedro José Mascarello Bisch | |
Stephanie Macoun | |
Sue Cooper | |
Tjitske Broersma | |
Vivienne Newport | |
Yolanda Meier | |
Stagehand | Paul Aron |
Lighting | Hans-Joachim Deinert |
Make-up | Heinz Dildey |
Sound | Horst Kersten |
Ballettkorrepetition | Werner Precht |
Technical direction | Rolf Bachmann |
Stage manager | Herbert Görsch |
Tour management | Hans-Dieter Klos |
Source of cast | Evening leaflet for “The Rite of Spring”, “Wind From West” and “The Second Spring” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, Dec. 3, 1975 |
Discover photos, videos and more in the archives | Browse the archives |
Piece | The Seven Deadly Sins |
Date | 15 June 1976 |
Venue | Opernhaus Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany |
Musikassistenz | Lothar Knepper |
Dance | Barbara Passow-Diekamp |
Barry Wilkinson | |
Colleen Finneran-Meessmann | |
Ed Kortlandt | |
Elisabeth Clarke | |
Esco Edmondson | |
Fernando Cortizo | |
Hans Pop | |
Heinz Samm | |
Hiltrud Blanck | |
Jan Minařík | |
Josephine Ann Endicott | |
Lajos Horvath | |
Laszlo Fenyves | |
Margaret Huggenberger | |
Marlis Alt | |
Michael Diekamp | |
Monika Sagon | |
Monika Wacker | |
Pedro José Mascarello Bisch | |
Stephanie Macoun | |
Sue Cooper | |
Tjitske Broersma | |
Vivienne Newport | |
Yolanda Meier | |
Actor | Mechthild Großmann |
Singer | Ann Höling |
Erich Leukert | |
Karin Rasenack | |
Oskar Pürgstaller | |
Siegfried Schmidt | |
Willi Nett | |
Zsolt Ketszery | |
Stagehand | Helmut Kühne |
Lighting | Hans-Joachim Deinert |
Make-up | Heinz Dildey |
Sound | Horst Kersten |
Costume assistant | Ortrud Himmelreich |
Souffleuse | Else Hildesheim |
Ballettkorrepetition | Werner Precht |
Technical direction | Rolf Bachmann |
Workshop management | Leo Haase |
Stage manager | Herbert Görsch |
Tour management | Hans-Dieter Klos |
Props | Günther Fränzel |
Source of cast | Evening leaflet for “The Seven Deadly Sins” by Pina Bausch with Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal in in Wuppertal, June 15, 1976 |
Discover photos, videos and more in the archives | Browse the archives |
Piece | Bluebeard. While Listening to a Tape Recording of Béla Bartók's Opera "Duke Bluebeard's Castle" |
Date | 8 January 1977 |
Venue | Opernhaus Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany |
Dance | Anne Marie Benati |
Arnaldo Alvarez | |
Barbara Passow-Diekamp | |
Colleen Finneran-Meessmann | |
Ed Kortlandt | |
Elisabeth Clarke | |
Esco Edmondson | |
Fernando Cortizo | |
Guy Detot | |
Hans Pop | |
Heinz Samm | |
Hiltrud Blanck | |
Jan Minařík | |
John Giffin | |
Josephine Ann Endicott | |
Luis P. Layag | |
Mari Di Lena | |
Marion Cito | |
Marlis Alt | |
Michael Diekamp | |
Monika Sagon | |
Monika Wacker | |
Tjitske Broersma | |
Vivienne Newport | |
Yolanda Meier | |
Stagehand | Josef Lindler |
Lighting | Hans-Joachim Deinert |
Make-up | Heinz Dildey |
Sound | Horst Kersten |
Costume assistant | Ortrud Himmelreich |
Ballet master | Egbert Strolka |
Ballettkorrepetition | Werner Precht |
Technical direction | Rolf Bachmann |
Workshop management | Leo Haase |
Stage manager | Herbert Görsch |
Props | Günther Fränzel |
Source of cast | Booklet for “Bluebeard. While Listening to a Tape Recording of Béla Bartók's Opera "Duke Bluebeard's Castle"” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, Jan. 8, 1977 |
Discover photos, videos and more in the archives | Browse the archives |
Piece | Come Dance With Me |
Date | 26 May 1977 |
Venue | Opernhaus Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany |
Dance | Anne Marie Benati |
Arnaldo Alvarez | |
Barbara Passow-Diekamp | |
Colleen Finneran-Meessmann | |
Ed Kortlandt | |
Elisabeth Clarke | |
Esco Edmondson | |
Fernando Cortizo | |
Gisbert Rüschkamp | |
Guy Detot | |
Hans Pop | |
Heinz Samm | |
Hiltrud Blanck | |
Jan Minařík | |
John Giffin | |
Josephine Ann Endicott | |
Luis P. Layag | |
Mari Di Lena | |
Marion Cito | |
Monika Sagon | |
Monika Wacker | |
Tjitske Broersma | |
Vivienne Newport | |
Yolanda Meier | |
Stagehand | Paul Aron |
Lighting | Hans-Joachim Deinert |
Make-up | Heinz Dildey |
Sound | Horst Kersten |
Costume assistant | Ortrud Himmelreich |
Ballet master | Egbert Strolka |
Ballettkorrepetition | Werner Precht |
Technical direction | Rolf Bachmann |
Workshop management | Leo Haase |
Stage manager | Herbert Görsch |
Props | Günther Fränzel |
Source of cast | Evening leaflet for “Come Dance With Me” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, May 26, 1977 |
Discover photos, videos and more in the archives | Browse the archives |
Piece | Renate wandert aus (Renate Emigrates) |
Date | 30 December 1977 |
Venue | Opernhaus Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany |
Dance | Anne Marie Benati |
Arnaldo Alvarez | |
Barbara Passow-Diekamp | |
Dana Sapiro | |
Dominique Mercy | |
Ed Kortlandt | |
Erich Leukert | |
Fernando Cortizo | |
Heinz Samm | |
Hiltrud Blanck | |
Héléna Pikon | |
Jacques Patarozzi | |
Jan Minařík | |
John Giffin | |
Josephine Ann Endicott | |
Luis P. Layag | |
Malou Airaudo | |
Mari Di Lena | |
Marion Cito | |
Marlis Alt | |
Monika Sagon | |
Monika Wacker | |
Tjitske Broersma | |
Vivienne Newport | |
Yolanda Meier | |
Stagehand | Paul Aron |
Lighting | Hans-Joachim Deinert |
Make-up | Heinz Dildey |
Sound | Horst Kersten |
Costume assistant | Ortrud Himmelreich |
Ballet master | Egbert Strolka |
Jean Cébron | |
Ballettkorrepetition | Werner Precht |
Technical direction | Rolf Bachmann |
Workshop management | Leo Haase |
Stage manager | Herbert Görsch |
Props | Günther Fränzel |
Source of cast | Evening leaflet for “Renate wandert aus (Renate Emigrates)” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, Dec. 30, 1977 |
Discover photos, videos and more in the archives | Browse the archives |