ATD Lectorate

A new THIRD Talk is up on our website!

In this talk Catalina Insignares discusses the upcoming book Cancer Ecologies with both of its authors Camila Marambio and Nina Lykke. Together they follow the deep weaving between vitality and death, knowledge of overwhelming toxicity and ancestral learning from kins such as Peatmoss and Diatoms. Q***r grief and ecological thinking about death are central to Lykke's and Marambios thought, to which we get a short introduction.

Find out more and see the full video at the link in our bio 🔗

Our 3rd cycle research programme THIRD hosts an ongoing series of livestreamed and prerecorded conversations. THIRD researchers interview and moderate discussions with artists, theorists and activists on their praxis relevant to topics such as Art, Activism and Care, On Grief and Death, and On Writing.

The peer-to-peer support structure for practice research in the arts, THIRD, is recruiting a new group of companions for the period September 2026 - August 2028.

This group will be held by tutors Rajni Shah and Emilie Gallier who, in their practice research, share curiosity around access and inviting diverse qualities of presence through intentional remoteness.

Want to know more about THIRD before applying? We scheduled two online info sessions, you can join us on:
27 January 9.30-10.30hrs CET time.
19 February 16.00-17.00hrs CET time.

Go to our website to find out more about THIRD and how to apply:
https://www.atd.ahk.nl/atd-lectoraat/third/

Today | Wednesday 14:00–17:00
ATD Theaterzaal Academy of Theatre and Dance
Jodenbreestraat 2, Amsterdam (ground floor)
no reservation needed

Join us for an afternoon dedicated to Phoa Yan Tiong (1926–2006) :martial arts teacher, magician, and a key influence on Dutch mime since the 1960s.

At the invitation of mime researcher Marijn de Langen, former students and guests share memories of Phoa’s work in movement and words, including Saffire Phoa, Pauline de Groot, and Erwin Dörr (current Shaolin teacher at the Mime School).

Week 4 We Gather in Grief
with Rajni Shah, Kai Hazelwood & Anna Arov

What if feelings of unbelonging, sadness, rage, despair, and disgust hold the wisdoms we need right now?

In the final week of January 2026, as part of ATD Lectorate Research Month, the Grief and Listening Collective (Anna Arov, Kai Hazelwood, Rajni Shah) will be in residence at the ATD dance studio (Jodenbreestraat). We open the space to students, staff, teachers, and artists who are working with, experiencing, or curious about embodied grief practices.

Wednesday 28 Jan | 14:00–17:00
Grief Time, Reptile Time, Listening Time
How do we slow down together and share solidarity in grief, sickness, and exhaustion?

Thursday 29 Jan | 17:00–20:00
Grievers’ Gathering
An invitation to share food, practices, and stories with others who care about grief work.
All are welcome.

ATD Research Month is an annual program of research events curated by the Lectorate which take place over the course of a month every January. The focus is on sharings of diverse research practices by students, teachers, researchers, alumni, professionals, artists-in-residence and guests in a way that pluralises ideas of what research can be for both internal and external audiences.

Events include performances, symposia, workshops, talks, installations, exhibitions, walks, listening sessions and social gatherings. The theme of ATD Research Month 2026 is We Gather.

We Gather Around Questions
A series of public events with:
Vivianne Rodrigues de Brito | Shabnam Shirzadi | Tolin Alexander | Lonnie van Brummelen | Siebren de Haan | Maaike Bleeker

20 – 22 January 2026

20 Jan | 10:00 – 13:00 | ATD, Jodenbreestraat, Studio 2.05
The Counter-Perspectives – Sharing of two teacher-researcher explorations:
• Vivianne Rodrigues-Brito (ECD): Touch & inclusive learning through contact improvisation – exploring social safety & resilience.
• Shabnam Shirzadi (SNDO): Ghosts and Bewilderment: Persian Poetic Epistemologies in Performance Analysis – exploring what performances leave behind through embodied experiments and Persian poetic thought.

21 Jan | 15:00 – 17:15 | Cinema de Vlugt, Amsterdam
Monikondee – Film Screening & Discussion
A collaborative documentary by Tolin Alexander, Lonnie van Brummelen & Siebren de Haan exploring Surinamese Indigenous & Maroon communities, climate change, and cultural continuity.

22 Jan | 14:00 – 17:00 | ATD, IDlab, 5th Floor
Capacity Building Workshop ‘Co-Creation’
A hands-on interdisciplinary workshop with the Dramaturgy for Devices research project, exploring how theatre & dance expertise can collaborate with robotics to co-create innovative experiences.

📩 Reserve your spot: [email protected]

ATD Research Month 2026
January — We Gather

The fifth edition of ATD Research Month, curated by the ATD Lectorate, unfolds across January 2026.
Each week explores a different way of gathering with weather, through stories, around questions, and in grief.

Week 1 We gather with weather
Agat Sharma
Public event: 12 January

Week 2 We gather through stories
Nita Liem, Bart Deuss, Marijn de Langen
Public events: 14 & 15 January

Week 3 We gather around questions
Vivianne Rodrigues de Brito, Shabnam Shirzadi, Tolin Alexander,
Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan, Maaike Bleeker
Public events: 20, 21 & 22 January

Week 4 We gather in grief
Rajni Shah, Kai Hazelwood, Anna Arov
Public events: 28 & 29 January

January 2026
🔗 More info via link in bio

We gather for the weather
Reservation information will follow

On 12 January, you are warmly invited to a public program sharing the ongoing research of ATD artist-in-residence Agat Sharma, theatre-maker.

Agat is working with staff and students from AHK and UvA, alongside artists, scholars, programmers, and weather experts, to explore how a storm can be staged in theatre. This afternoon offers a chance to take part in the research process and see where the work is now.

Program

13.00–13.30
Welcome and introduction to the research
Location: ATD, Jodenbreestraat, IDlab

13.30–14.30
Dialogue with Nadia Bloemendaal
Assistant Professor at KNMI – Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
Expert in tropical cyclone risk
Location: ATD, Jodenbreestraat, IDlab

14.30–15.00
Tea break
Location: ATD, Jodenbreestraat, IDlab

15.00–16.15
Sharing: Drawing Water from Stone (Staging the Storm)
A work-in-progress sharing exploring the cyclonic super storm Amphan, which caused major damage in India and Bangladesh in 2020. Presented through five songs (prayers), the work reflects on storms and extreme weather in our changing world.
Location: IDlab

16.30–17.30
Post-sharing discussion with the team about the project

All are welcome.

We are happy to announce the program for the fifth edition of ATD Research Month, curated by the ATD Lectorate.
In this program, we gather with weather, we gather through stories, we gather around questions, and we gather in grief throughout the month of January.
Check the full program on our website via the link in our profile.

Photo credits:
Week 1: Agat Sharma
Week 2: Jean van Lingen
Week 3: Vivianne Rodrigues de Brito
Week 4: Rajni Shah

Open Call – 2 New Members for the EKTD Research Group

The Embodied Knowledge in Theatre and Dance (EKTD) research group at the Academy of Theatre and Dance is seeking two ATD teachers to join its English-speaking teacher-researcher community. Research experience is welcome but not required—curiosity and a willingness to explore embodied knowledge in teaching and artistic practice are key.

The group consists of about 12 members and meets monthly on Wednesdays, 14:00–17:00, at the ATD Lectorate (Overhoeksplein 2). Attendance is paid.
2026 meeting dates: 11 Feb, 11 Mar, 8 Apr, 20 May, 17 Jun. Availability is required.

Research focuses on embodiment and the transmission of embodied knowledge within ATD and society, with outcomes feeding back into ATD teaching practices.

More information:
https://www.atd.ahk.nl/en/atd-lectorate/groups/embodied-knowledge-in-theatre-and-dance/

Please send a motivation letter (max 400 words)—describing why you want to join, your research questions, and the link to your teaching—to [email protected] by 5 January 2026
Photo 1 by Maria Ines Villasmil, left to right: Zeynep Günduz, Tiana Hemlock, Patrick Ackogny

Photo 2 drawing by Maria Ines Villasmil

Photo 3 by Marijn de Langen, left to right: Vivianne Rodrigues de Brito, Esther Snelder, Maria Ines Villasmil, Carly Everaert, Nita Liem