With Déjà vu, which premièred during the 1995 Holland Festival, Hans van Manen added an exquisite new duet to a special series that he earlier developed for the Nederlands Dans Theater: Two and Andante (for which he won the Sonia Gaskell Prize in 1991). Evergreens (NDT III, 1991), Different Partners (NDT III, 1993) and The Old Man and Me (NDT III, 1996).

Déjà vu is set to Fratres (1980), by Arvo Pärt, in the version for violin and piano. The ballet's opening is highly original, with the dancers down on their hands and feet, entering backwards out of the wings on either side of the stage. The dancers constantly keep their eyes riveted on one another, with the man serving as the woman's mainstay. Later, we see a rift developing between the partners as they turn their heads or bodies away from each other. But, time and again, we can clearly see the bond between them. Van Manen follows the music scrupulously, and manages to add tension by letting the dancers compete with the score.
Marcel-Armand van Nieuwpoort in 'Het Financieele Dagblad', June 1995


'Van Manen has caught the essence of human relationships' ('NRC Handelsblad')

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