Corona in the City

In the spring, we hope that something is finally allowed again. The faces of Molenwijk go outside and are cheered up by a parade of light figures. During Nena Duinmeyer’s residency period at Werkplaats Molenwijk, the illuminated and brightly coloured animals of Nina de Jong and Nena Duinmeyer come out to amaze the residents of the Molenwijk community with dance and music. Every week, there is a beautiful parade in the district with live music and large special animals. Residents of the neighbourhood can participate by dancing from their balcony or on the streets. There is also room for local residents to walk in one of the costumes and musicians can participate in the brass band for the parade music.

Mini Parades in Neighborhoods and Districts during Lockdown

For Pretvormer and ACCU, the requests for parades stopped with the start of the first lockdown. Not long afterwards, they joined forces and developed mini parades consisting of two parade animals and two musicians. With this the group could safely create magical moments and beautiful encounters within the corona regulations. Pretvormer and ACCU choose neighborhoods and squares that they think needs extra to bring love and color.

Every time it results in a small safe party for all local residents; children dancing on the playground, elderly people being serenaded from their garden, entire families dancing on the balcony or teenagers honking on their scooters.

Pretvormer consists of Nina de Jong and Nena Duinmeyer. They organize, devise and make parades in neighborhoods and at festivals.

Pretvormer in the neighborhood and at festivals

Well-known initiatives of Pretvormer are the Super Sint Maarten parade and Carnival of Noord. Large neighborhood projects that, through preparatory workshops in the neighborhood, result in beautiful parades. The preparation process ensures that people can get to know each other in an accessible and simple way. For this Pretvormer organizes workshops in which the participants can help build costumes or play instruments and learn songs that are used in the parades.

Pretvormer not only makes parades in neighborhoods and districts, but also at festivals such as Down the Rabbit Hole or Mysteryland. Here too Pretvormer turns it into a spectacular experience. Special, impressive costumes, combined with music, are the ingredients for an unforgettable parade.

The parades at both festivals and in the neighborhoods are an accessible way for people to get to know each other better. They are also very inclusive and made so that everyone can participate. By actively involving the participants in the preparation and execution of the parade, Pretvormer ensures long-lasting relationships between the participants themselves and with the new traditions in the neighborhood.

ACCU is a household name in Amsterdam. ACCU stands for art, community, culture and has been creating beautiful theatrical performances and community art projects in the city for years under the direction of former Dogtroepers Jos Zandvliet and Septimia Kuhlmann. To musically accompany the community art projects of ACCU, they founded the ACCUFanFare in 2010.

The ACCUFanFare is a walking street orchestra consisting of professional and amateur musicians who, with great pleasure, enthusiasm and charisma, can make music for a parade. The repertoire is a mix of music from all corners of the world composed and arranged for this wind orchestra. The ACCUFanFare works on a regular basis with Pretvormer. 

Photo credit: Annelies Verhelst

by Pretvormer, ACCU