About the artist
SAND-R (Sander Verbeek) is a disabled contemporary dancer and choreographer. Throughout SAND-R's dance journey from 2016 to present day Holland Dance Festival (HDF) in The Netherlands is a central theme and support. Performance collaborations with Dutch National Ballet, Misiconi Dance, Sally Dansgezelschap Maastricht, and Moving Ground (Antwerp) built a strong foundation.
From 2017 to 2018, he took part in the esteemed i-Dance programme, enabling collaborations with Onassis Stegi (Greece),Skånes Dansteater (Sweden) and Stopgap Dance Company (United Kingdom). Also in this time being a part of "LABO" at Antwerp conservatoire cemented vital relationships and learning. In 2018 and 2019, he was one of the selected artists to take part in Europe Beyond Access laboratories in Malmo and Maastricht.
From 2017 to 2018, he took part in the esteemed i-Dance programme, enabling collaborations with Onassis Stegi (Greece),Skånes Dansteater (Sweden) and Stopgap Dance Company (United Kingdom). Also in this time being a part of "LABO" at Antwerp conservatoire cemented vital relationships and learning. In 2018 and 2019, he was one of the selected artists to take part in Europe Beyond Access laboratories in Malmo and Maastricht.
'Dance is the place where body and mind can fuse together. It is the place where I can feel free and integrate my emotions. I just love the stage, the buzz, the amazing energy you get from performing. Dance is a way to express myself, lose myself and find myself again.'
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2018-2021 SAND-R was an Apprentice Dancer with Sg2, part of Stopgap Dance Company, UK. Here SAND-R developed further performance and teaching skills, including for a children's theatre piece. Honing digital work and creating an audio choreography (titled "BOOMBOX") during the isolation which COVID brought.
More recent collaborations with Step Change studios, Europe Beyond Access, SZENE2WEI and self-produced work with Peter Leung, Nadine Drouin and Maylis Arrabit further expanded Sander's experiences of working cross culturally. This cemented his desire to create new work, particularly developing his own role as choreographer, recently shortlisted to become a Young Associate with Sadler’s Wells. |
The disabled community is a strong empowered community that I've come to love. Not only am I empowered with calling myself disabled, there is also recognition of the heritage we hold and the disadvantages we face as a community within our current society. Being one of many disabled artists, I am able to create work from a unique perspective and add creativity and variety to dance.
