Review: Scapino Ballet Anima Obscura - like an extravagant rock concert and I enjoyed it

I went to watch Scapino Ballet Rotterdam's Anima Obscura on Sunday, 1st June 2025 at the Nieuwe Luxor Theater in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

I was very much looking forward to Anima Obscura because it was the first full length creation by the new artistic director, Nanine Linning since she succeeded Ed Wubbe, who stepped down in August last year after 30 years directing Scapino.

Furthermore, the fact that Linning is a female artistic director made me look forward to it even more. Female artistic directors of established dance companies are still minorities today. The Dance Data Project®'s Global Leadership report shows that women holds only 30% of the artistic director positions of U.S. and international classically-based dance companies.

Anima Obscura premiered on 29th May. Linning herself said in the digital programme, "29 May was a big day" for her.

And it was a big production, indeed. Scapino calls it "Gesamtkunstwerk" in Dutch. It literally means "total work of art". For me personally, it meant "everything in one evening at one place."

Scapino Ballet Rotterdam Anima Obscrua curtain call on 1st June 2025 (photograph taken by me with my old iPhone

For the lucky audiences in Rotterdam, like myself, Anima Obscura was a large scale multi-dimensional art with depth and complexity, incorporating dance, a live orchestra (Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra), opera singers (baritone James Atkinson, soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou), choirs (Laurens Symfonisch), classical music (Johannes Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem), modern music (Yannis Kyriakides), costume design (Irina Shaposhnikova) , visual art (Claudia Rohrmoser), and a harpist on stage (Remy van Kesteren). Apparently, it was the first time ever for Scapino and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra to work and perform together. (In other locations, it seems recorded music will be used)

Anima Obscura is an abstract art work with the underlying theme being the never-ending human desire for immortality, or life and death. The stage revolves around alchemists in the medieval age and 21st century bio-hackers.

I was wondering how a choreographer could create a 100-minute dance piece without a break based on such an elusive theme, keeping the audience engaged. But in my opinion, it worked. The show was a non-stop extravaganza. It was like an exhilarating, high-voltage rock concert, sometimes with quite dramatic elements. And I liked it. It must be, however, quite taxing for artists to perform this piece.

It was definitely a tour de force for Linning. I believe she wanted to cause a good mass hysteria. She wanted show off what she and the company were capable of for her big day. She probably used 150% of what she had. Still, if this is her first job with Scapino, I certainly look forward to her creations -- maybe with some more oxygen.

If I can make a suggestion for future audiences of Anima Obscura -- because it was a big production, the tickets were a little pricey. I felt cheap and watched it from a high view point in the second balcony of the theatre. But if you can afford, purchase tickets for seats at lower levels. You can enjoy the effect of the digital projection much much better.

Official trailer

Also, allow me to mention Roland Petit's Camera Obscura for some ballet geeks.