The Waste Land is a unique collaboration between Amsterdam Sinfonietta and ISH Dance Collective. The performance is based on the poem of the same name written by T.S. Eliot over a hundred years ago and inspired by music by Iranian composer Farokzhad Layegh. The world Eliot outlines bears many similarities to today’s world, in which challenges keep piling up: war, poverty, loneliness, climate crisis. However, hope and will are never lost.

In The Waste Land, rousing string music and acrobatic dance take you on a quest toward the future, from darkness to light. In an endless cycle of decay and rebirth, the musicians and dancers challenge each other to push their own limits with different styles of music and dance. The music you will hear is by Michael Nyman, Bryce Dessner, Fazil Say, Igor Stravinsky, Arvo Pärt, Valentin Silvestrov and the aforementioned Farokzhad Layegh.