Faizah Grootens
Faizah proceeds like a sculptor: by eliminating and leaving out, a pure line remains. That sculptural clarity never becomes predictable, however, because her intuition and her Caribbean roots are the source of the distinctive flow in her work. That combination gives Faizah a layered signature and makes her a promise for the future.
Faizah will become artist in Residence at Korzo in 2025.
Grootens' work is characterized by vulnerability, temperament, infinite, fluid circular movements and polyrhythms that emerge naturally in contemporary choreographies through her Creole body language.
Born and raised in Curaçao, she graduated from the Amsterdam School of the Arts and the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba. As a choreographer, she has collaborated with several well-known organizations, such as Holland Dance Festival, Het Zuidelijk Toneel, Laleget Danza (Mexico) and Taller Coreográfico Unam (Mexico).
Her work has been presented both nationally and internationally at CaDance Festival, Kalamata Dance Festival, Oriente Occidente and in various museums and theaters in the Netherlands, Cuba, Mexico, New York, Curaçao and Aruba, among others. At the end of 2022 she presented her duet While you're here - Tanten bo t'aki during the program of Korzo and Nederlands Dans Theater Here we live and Now, and in 2023 her first full-length production Corpus Criolla premiered in collaboration with KIP Republic.
Grootens is also the winner of the 2023 Leo Spreksel Award.
"Faizah is a choreographer pur sang. [...] Faizah choreographs with the body as a great source of inspiration, working like a sculptor. By eliminating and minimizing, a pure line remains. This sculptural clarity never becomes predictable, however, because her intuition and her Caribbean roots are the source for the characteristic flow in her work. With that, her work has a signature of its own that holds promise for the future." - Leo Spreksel
Faizah has also come into contact with an impressive number of creators as a dancer, including Laleget Danza, Maurice Causey and Gabri Christa. As a teacher, Faizah is affiliated with the Amsterdam School of the Arts.