Conny Janssen and Patricia van Deutekom co-create the production INSTINCT, coming to Dutch theatres, from February to June 2026. In this interview, they tell about what inspired them to make this performance and how they worked together.
What sort of performance is Instinct?
Patricia: ‘An energetic, physical performance with twelve dancers who will be out there on the floor for the entire seventy-five minutes; not leaving the scene for one minute. They respond to each other, for that is what the performance is all about. In addition, we raise the question of what happens when you are under pressure. Do you still manage to follow your instincts in a world that is so highly organized? Do you respond from your instinct or .are you guided by what surrounds you?’
Conny: ‘You watch a performance Patricia and I co-created. That is in line with the theme: as choreographers, we interact with each other and, at the same time, we both try to stay true to ourselves. ’
Conny, never before have you made a large-stage performance in co-creation. What made you do that now?
Conny: ‘Yes, that was quite a step to take, for I have been making performances on my own for ages. To allow someone to enter the vulnerability of creating is very exciting. However, I think It Is important. This has to do with the Huis Conny Janssen Danst we are building, in which talent development plays a significant role. For young makers, there is the DANSLOKAAL project, for mid careers, the NEXT project. I wanted to expand this development towards large-stage productions. I thought that maybe the time has come to embark on that very exciting, dangerous, but also beautiful and inspiring journey. Then Patricia sprang to mind.’
She has a sort of primal force I can relate to.
How did you meet?
Patricia: ‘I was eleven years old when I first saw a performance by Conny. I did a preparatory course in dance and I dreamed of a career in dance. However, I only knew classical ballet. Conny’s work was very different from everything I had seen until that moment: mundane, emerging from a kind of gut feeling. It was a revelation. From that moment on, I followed everything Conny did.’
Conny: ‘I got to know Patricia as a beginning dancer, and, later on, as a co-choreographer and partner of Jens van Daele who, for a number of years, was a dancer at my company. When Patricia had her own company, I invited her for a residence from which a duet emerged. Then I asked her to participate in DANSLOKAAL; that was the first time she worked with a group of dancers she had not met before. I noticed the enormous passion, sense of responsibility and, above all, a huge talent, with which she took on this commission. She has a kind of primal forth I, myself, can relate to.’
Patricia: ‘Rather out of the blue, Conny suggested making a performance together. I immediately said yes, for, my goodness, what an honour! Although our physical dance language differs, there is a great deal of overlap between Conny’s way of working and mine.’
We both love to show real people. People, who get tired, pant and sweat.
Could you dwell a bit more on that overlap and the differences in dance languages?
Patricia: ‘Just like Conny, I love it when dancers cannot hide any longer and the real person emerges. A person who gets tired, who pants and sweats. The audience should feel it in their guts. Apart from that, I may have a slightly larger preference for the unpolished, the raw, the abrasive, the energetic, and the explosive. I love to try to find the boundaries and subsequently cross them.’
Conny: ‘In this respect, Patricia is the most radical. I like to look out for the counterpoint by juxtaposing something soft and poetical with the very physical and mundane language, more organic and circular movements. You also find this contrast in the choice of music: I like to alternate rough music with something that is the total opposite, for instance a classic aria.’
Can you still be instinctive when so much is expected of you?
How did you come up with the Instinct theme?
Patricia: ‘The subject matter came to me through personal occurrences that raised the question: Why do I respond the way I do? I wanted to investigate that. The four instinctive responses to threat are fighting, fleeing, freezing or pleasing. I presented this idea to Conny as a possible starting point. ’
Conny: ‘Associatively, we found words that worked better for us, words in which we recognized movements. Words like approaching, avoiding, attacking, letting go, being carried. But also organization, structure, nature, rituals and animal behaviour.’
Patricia: ‘Can you still be instinctive in this world where, every single day, so much is expected of you? That became the starting point.’
How did you go about?
Conny: ‘First, we investigated what exactly co-creation means. Do we both make half a performance? Or, do we truly work together from beginning to end? We considered the latter to be the most valuable option. Before we entered the studio together, we wanted to experience how we, as individuals, relate to this theme to be able to get started from our autonomous strength. Once we were in the studio, with the dancers, it all started to flow. You have bodies and personalities in front of you and you can start moulding.’
In what kind of situations do you, yourselves, react instinctively?
Patricia: ‘I think I addressed my Instinct the most when I was confronted with the death of loved-ones. Twice I suffered a great loss and both times, I responded in the same way: I started running. Everyone told me: take your time, I kept going because I did not want to stop and feel. Another time my instinct took over was when I saw someone tumbling down the escalator at the Central Station. I was going down, saw what happened and instinctively ran up the stairs to try to stop that person. These, to me, are moments you do not think, you just go.’
Conny: ‘Your instinct is also addressed in everyday situations. A conversation, a conflict in which you feel attacked and you become defensive, to mention a few. I observe these situations and draw inspiration from them for the performance.’
How important is a theme in making a performance and understanding it?
Conny: ‘As makers, we get In touch with a certain feeling. By staying very near to your own feeling, you achieve a true emotion in the audience. You create something that resonates.’
Patricia: ‘As a choreographer, you follow your gut feeling. The result is there for everybody to interpret freely.’
Conny: ‘Dance communicates without any interference. Like music, it appeals to your emotional world, there is no escaping. Every now and again, I only know what a performance is really about when it is completely finished and I watch it, after a while. That was the case with ‘Mirror Mirror’… I was watching it, sitting in the audience, and all of a sudden, it came to me: this is about my father’s passing.’
Patricia, how did you get along with Conny’s dancers?
Patricia: ‘I knew them from their performances; I knew what their qualities were. However, I had never worked with them. I was nervous when I met them, the first time. It was exiting for them too; with Conny, they get on like a house on fire. What would it be like with me? It was a matter of discovery and exploring. They are eager to learn and open to plunge into the process. Gradually, I led them towards my world. The fact that it was not that different from Conny’s made it pretty smooth.’
Will the performance change In the course of the tour?
Conny: ‘Totally! I mean, not the choreography, that will not change, but the performance will thrive more.
As early as opening night, with an audience present, we feel that something is happening. The performance comes to life. During the subsequent tour, you keep on coaching to make sure that the dancers and, as a result, the performance continues to develop. .’
Does it mean that we have to see the final performance or attend the premiere?
Conny and Patricia in unison: ‘Both!’