encounter in mime

by Jakop Ahlbom

Time masterclass: 13:15-14:45
Language Masterclass: Dutch

Encounters
Encounters is the Youth Programme of the Masterclass Festival Amsterdam. In this programme, young participants (ages 14-17) work in the period leading up to the festival on their own production, within the artistic framework of the grandmaster and under the guidance of teachers from the curating arts institution. The performance during the Masterclass Festival Amsterdam serves as the finale. With their experience and expertise, the grandmasters refine the performances and introduce new perspectives into the production.

Masterclass
Mime director Jakop Ahlbom opens his creative universe in a special masterclass during the festival. Renowned for his magical blend of mime, dance, and physical imagination, he guides young talents through his unique working methods. Students from De Amsterdamse Jeugdtheaterschool, Adam Music School, and Solid Ground Movement each create their own performance, which is then woven into a single piece during the masterclass. Visitors get a rare insight into the process of a creator who builds worlds where nothing is as it seems. A unique experience for lovers of boundary-pushing theatre.

Talents
Jakop Ahlbom will give the masterclass to a selected interdisciplinary group from A’DAM Music School, the Amsterdam Youth Theatre School, and hiphop school Solid Ground Movement. Participant names will be announced shortly.

Jakop Ahlbom
Jakop Ahlbom (1971) is an internationally acclaimed director and theatre maker. He is known for his poetic, visual, and physically expressive productions. Born in Sweden, he moved to the Netherlands in the early 1990s to study Mime at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. After graduating in 1998, he worked as a performer, choreographer, and director with several notable makers. In 2000, he founded his own company, Jakop Ahlbom Company.

Ahlbom has developed a distinctive theatrical language that combines theatre, mime, dance, music, and illusionism. His work is characterized by a strong visual style and playful inventiveness, taking audiences into surprising, often surreal worlds.

For his production Lebensraum, Ahlbom received the prestigious VSCD Mime Prize, a major recognition in the Dutch theatre field. The production was praised for its inventive combination of physical comedy, visual imagination, and theatrical originality. His performances are presented internationally, earning him recognition both nationally and abroad.

Information
More information on Jakop Ahlbom Company