More than Entertainment - An Experience for the Senses
Immerse yourself in a carefully curated program of exclusive performances, inspiring encounters, and captivating displays. In a stylish setting, art, culture, and entertainment come together to create unforgettable experiences. Discover here the carefully selected artists featured on this journey.
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Experience contemporary dance at the highest level with a piece created exclusively for the EUROPA 2. The celebrated choreographer Alexander Ekman brings together the best dancers from the world's most renowned companies to form a unique ensemble.
"TAKE FIVE" is a tribute to the iconic piece by jazz quartet Dave Brubeck and is based on Ekman's existing work "FIT", in which he dynamically stages themes such as flexibility, uniqueness and cultural norms. At the same time, "TAKE FIVE" is a new creation that adds an extra dimension with a unique rhythmic structure. In his dynamic and powerful production, he seamlessly integrates the movements of the ship at sea and the movements of the people on board into the choreography, skilfully combining elements of humour and satire to bring athleticism, precision and theatricality to the stage with a playful wink.
Choreographer
Alexander Ekman
Alexander Ekman began his dance career at the Royal Swedish Ballet, one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. In 2006 he ended his active dancing career to devote himself entirely to choreography. His reputation is the result of unique creations for international dance companies and opera houses, including the Boston Ballet, the Nederlands Dans Theater 2, the Opéra National de Paris, the Cullberg Ballet and the Staatsballett Berlin. His works stand for a unique and original style that playfully and masterfully combines humour, surprise and provocation. Fast-paced and athletic, his choreographies break through the boundaries of traditional dance.
In June 2024, Ekman celebrated the premiere of "Take Five" on board the EUROPA 2.
cast
Assistant, Repetitor & Dancer
Éve-Marie Dalcourt
Ève-Marie is a multi-faceted artist from Montreal, Canada. She has danced 3 years with the world renown Nederlands Dans Theater II. Eager to support and facilitate new initiatives and artistic voices, she decided in 2019 to become a freelance artist. She has since worked multiple times with the Korzo Theater, Diego Tortelli, Antonin Rioche, Juliano Nunes, Julian Nicosia and Imre & Marne van Opstal. She is also known to perform in galas around the world with her dance partner and best friend Toon Lobach. On top of maintaining the development of her career as a dancer, she was entrusted with the role of assistant and repetitor for both Alexander Ekman and Juliano Nunes, allowing her to stage pieces on the the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin and the Birmingham Royal ballet. Ève-Marie aspires to keep evolving in becoming a facilitator for movement, communication and initiative in the dance industry.
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Dancer
Boston Gallacher
Boston Gallacher (they/them) was born in Glasgow, Scotland. After training at The Dance School of Scotland in Glasgow and Rambert School in London they joined Nederlands Dans Theater 2, where they danced for three years before moving to NDT1 for another four. In that time, they created 20 new roles in original works for the company, including Alexander Ekman’s original cast of FIT. They are now working as freelance dancer, model and teacher. As a non-binary person, Boston seeks to support progressive values in movement practice, believing that dance has the power to transcend language and succumb to the sensorial knowledge of the body.
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Dancer
Fay van Baar
Fay van Baar, a Dutch native, received her Bachelor's degree in Dance from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. She joined Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in 2015 and performed with NDT 1 until July 2024. Throughout her time at NDT, Fay was a part of creating over 20 new works with renowned choreographers, including Marne and Imre van Opstal, Damien Jalet, Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Yoann Bourgeois, and many others. In addition to her career as a dancer, Fay has choreographed works for stage and film both within and outside NDT. She was honored with the Dansersfonds prize for her ¨mature, unforced presentation, subtle musicality, and clear affinity with the atmosphere and energy that a choreography seeks to evoke¨.
Photocredit: Sacha Grootjans
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Dancer
Hélias Durvaout
Originally from Marseille, France, Hélias studied at the music conservatory for nine years before pursuing dance education at the Hamburg Ballet school. He danced with the Youth National Ballet under John Neumeier's direction and then joined the renowned Nederlands Dans Theater 2. After a short time as a soloist in Rijeka, Croatia, he moved to Italy, where he danced with the company Aterballetto for five years, working with eminent choreographers such as Jiři Kylián, Ohan Naharin, Johan Inger and many more. He now enjoys dancing worldwide as a freelancer, while also conducting workshops to share his passion and knowledge with aspiring artists.
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Dancer
Matias Rocha Moura
Matias Rocha Moura is a Brussels-based freelance artist, dancer, performer and DJ. Determined to pursue his dream of becoming a professional dancer, he left his hometown in Portugal at 14 years old, to develop his craft and encounter new clusters of people. Matias studied at Codarts Rotterdam, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance, and finishing his last year as an intern with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam and ICK Amsterdam. He then spent the next 2 years working as a full-time member of the company Ballet Theater Basel in Switzerland, performing works by Sharon Eyal, Marcos Morau,Imre and Marne van Opstal, Alexander Ekman, and others. Striving to work in multidisciplinary creations, he currently works on different projects in Basel, Paris, and Brussels, which include musicians, theater-makers, actors, dancers, visual artists, singers, fashion-designers, etc.
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Dancer
Grace Lyell
Grace Lyell is an artist of British origin that grew up in France, Holland and Italy. A professional dancer of classical and contemporary training, she’s been working and touring for the past 8 years with three major dance companies: Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT2), Aterballetto (Italy) and La Marche Bleue (Paris). Where she got the opportunity to work with some of the world’s best choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Hofesh Shechter, Sharon Eyal, Alexander Ekman, Imre and Marne Van Opstal, Fernando Melo, Johan Inger… She now works as a freelance dance artist, based in Paris, where her practice has been expanded and diversified to more choreographing, movement direction and modeling. She has appeared this year in campaigns and collaborations with Louis Vuitton, Max Mara, Jean Paul Gauthier, Coperni, Amina Muaddi, Cartier, Diesel, Louboutin. Danced in music videos for Lady Gaga with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Woodkid, Angèle, Damso. Was featured in Vogue Magazine (Portugal and Scandinavia), W Mag, Mixte Mag and appeared in TV series with TF1 and Disney+ (Balenciaga, l’Art du Crime). She has choreographed music videos for artists such as Yodelice, Joanna, Anna Majidson, and TV live/concerts for bands such as Bagarre and Joanna. She is currently playing a small part in Luc Besson’s new film, and is directing two dance films herself. In 2023, she co-founded her creative direction studio, PAG.
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Dancer
Thalia Crymble
Thalia started dancing when she was 10 in North Vancouver, Canada. At 14 she moved to Toronto to study at Canada’s National Ballet School. After graduating she danced with the National Ballet of Canada and SemperOper in Dresden as a guest artist. In 2016 she moved to the Netherlands to join NDT 2. And In 2024 she had her last season with NDT 1. During her professional career she has worked with Gabriela Carrizo, William Forsythe, Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, and Jiri Kylian.
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Dancer
Charlie Skuy
Charlie is a choreographer and performer from Canada. After graduating Canada’s National Ballet School, Charlie danced with Nederlands Dans Theater from 2018-2024. He now has dedicated himself to creating his own choreography, film, and performance, which has earned him multiple awards and acclaim.
More
Assistant, Repetitor & Dancer
Éve-Marie Dalcourt
Ève-Marie is a multi-faceted artist from Montreal, Canada. She has danced 3 years with the world renown Nederlands Dans Theater II. Eager to support and facilitate new initiatives and artistic voices, she decided in 2019 to become a freelance artist. She has since worked multiple times with the Korzo Theater, Diego Tortelli, Antonin Rioche, Juliano Nunes, Julian Nicosia and Imre & Marne van Opstal. She is also known to perform in galas around the world with her dance partner and best friend Toon Lobach. On top of maintaining the development of her career as a dancer, she was entrusted with the role of assistant and repetitor for both Alexander Ekman and Juliano Nunes, allowing her to stage pieces on the the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin and the Birmingham Royal ballet. Ève-Marie aspires to keep evolving in becoming a facilitator for movement, communication and initiative in the dance industry.
Dancer
Boston Gallacher
Boston Gallacher (they/them) was born in Glasgow, Scotland. After training at The Dance School of Scotland in Glasgow and Rambert School in London they joined Nederlands Dans Theater 2, where they danced for three years before moving to NDT1 for another four. In that time, they created 20 new roles in original works for the company, including Alexander Ekman’s original cast of FIT. They are now working as freelance dancer, model and teacher. As a non-binary person, Boston seeks to support progressive values in movement practice, believing that dance has the power to transcend language and succumb to the sensorial knowledge of the body.
Dancer
Fay van Baar
Fay van Baar, a Dutch native, received her Bachelor's degree in Dance from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. She joined Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in 2015 and performed with NDT 1 until July 2024. Throughout her time at NDT, Fay was a part of creating over 20 new works with renowned choreographers, including Marne and Imre van Opstal, Damien Jalet, Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Yoann Bourgeois, and many others. In addition to her career as a dancer, Fay has choreographed works for stage and film both within and outside NDT. She was honored with the Dansersfonds prize for her ¨mature, unforced presentation, subtle musicality, and clear affinity with the atmosphere and energy that a choreography seeks to evoke¨.
Photocredit: Sacha Grootjans
Dancer
Hélias Durvaout
Originally from Marseille, France, Hélias studied at the music conservatory for nine years before pursuing dance education at the Hamburg Ballet school. He danced with the Youth National Ballet under John Neumeier's direction and then joined the renowned Nederlands Dans Theater 2. After a short time as a soloist in Rijeka, Croatia, he moved to Italy, where he danced with the company Aterballetto for five years, working with eminent choreographers such as Jiři Kylián, Ohan Naharin, Johan Inger and many more. He now enjoys dancing worldwide as a freelancer, while also conducting workshops to share his passion and knowledge with aspiring artists.
Dancer
Matias Rocha Moura
Matias Rocha Moura is a Brussels-based freelance artist, dancer, performer and DJ. Determined to pursue his dream of becoming a professional dancer, he left his hometown in Portugal at 14 years old, to develop his craft and encounter new clusters of people. Matias studied at Codarts Rotterdam, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance, and finishing his last year as an intern with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam and ICK Amsterdam. He then spent the next 2 years working as a full-time member of the company Ballet Theater Basel in Switzerland, performing works by Sharon Eyal, Marcos Morau,Imre and Marne van Opstal, Alexander Ekman, and others. Striving to work in multidisciplinary creations, he currently works on different projects in Basel, Paris, and Brussels, which include musicians, theater-makers, actors, dancers, visual artists, singers, fashion-designers, etc.
Dancer
Grace Lyell
Grace Lyell is an artist of British origin that grew up in France, Holland and Italy. A professional dancer of classical and contemporary training, she’s been working and touring for the past 8 years with three major dance companies: Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT2), Aterballetto (Italy) and La Marche Bleue (Paris). Where she got the opportunity to work with some of the world’s best choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Hofesh Shechter, Sharon Eyal, Alexander Ekman, Imre and Marne Van Opstal, Fernando Melo, Johan Inger… She now works as a freelance dance artist, based in Paris, where her practice has been expanded and diversified to more choreographing, movement direction and modeling. She has appeared this year in campaigns and collaborations with Louis Vuitton, Max Mara, Jean Paul Gauthier, Coperni, Amina Muaddi, Cartier, Diesel, Louboutin. Danced in music videos for Lady Gaga with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Woodkid, Angèle, Damso. Was featured in Vogue Magazine (Portugal and Scandinavia), W Mag, Mixte Mag and appeared in TV series with TF1 and Disney+ (Balenciaga, l’Art du Crime). She has choreographed music videos for artists such as Yodelice, Joanna, Anna Majidson, and TV live/concerts for bands such as Bagarre and Joanna. She is currently playing a small part in Luc Besson’s new film, and is directing two dance films herself. In 2023, she co-founded her creative direction studio, PAG.
Dancer
Thalia Crymble
Thalia started dancing when she was 10 in North Vancouver, Canada. At 14 she moved to Toronto to study at Canada’s National Ballet School. After graduating she danced with the National Ballet of Canada and SemperOper in Dresden as a guest artist. In 2016 she moved to the Netherlands to join NDT 2. And In 2024 she had her last season with NDT 1. During her professional career she has worked with Gabriela Carrizo, William Forsythe, Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, and Jiri Kylian.
Dancer
Charlie Skuy
Charlie is a choreographer and performer from Canada. After graduating Canada’s National Ballet School, Charlie danced with Nederlands Dans Theater from 2018-2024. He now has dedicated himself to creating his own choreography, film, and performance, which has earned him multiple awards and acclaim.
more artists & experts on this cruise
Chanson
Tim Fischer
Tim Fischer, chanson artist and actor, born 1973, was already on stage at the age of 15 with chansons by Zarah Leander, Marlene Dietrich, Lale Andersen and others. Programs with songs by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wolf Wondratschek, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Bertolt Brecht, Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill, Friedrich Hollaender and Georg Kreisler followed, celebrated by the press and the public. He gave numerous concerts outside of German-speaking countries, for example in the USA, Egypt, Syria, Sudan, France and Poland.
In addition to his music career, he worked in various theater productions and films, by directors such as Leander Hausmann and Werner Schröder. Most recently he was seen in the top-class TV series "Babylon Berlin" directed by Tom Tykwer and in the movie "Lindenberg - mach dein Ding!" In 2019 he celebrated his 30th stage anniversary with his program “Zeitlos”. At the beginning of 2020, the role of the conférencier in the musical "Cabaret" at the Hamburg Hansa Theater brought him another great success.
Gallery on Board
The gallery on Deck 9 of the EUROPA 2 is a place for exclusive art enjoyment. With regularly changing exhibitions, outstanding works of contemporary art are showcased – from paintings and smaller sculptures to photography and works on paper. Each exhibition is carefully curated and bears the distinctive signature of renowned galleries and artists. As a result, every journey becomes an inspiration for art lovers who not only want to experience art but also acquire it.
Gallery
Commeter
"Every beginning has its magic," wrote Hermann Hesse. When the Commeter Art Gallery opened in 1821 on Johannisstraße, it was the first business of its kind in Hamburg. The founders, Ernst Georg Harzen and Johann Matthias Commeter, significantly shaped the city's art scene and left a lasting legacy with 30,000 engravings and drawings that founded the Kupferstichkabinett at the Kunsthalle. In 1847, Wilhelm Becker and Christian Meyer took over the gallery, which was further developed by Wilhelm Suhr in 1878 and moved to a magnificent Art Nouveau building in 1908. Suhr Junior led the gallery into the modern era, showcasing Munch, Nolde, and other Expressionists, becoming a key address for modern art. In 1952, Andreas Suhr took over, followed by his daughter Hella Suhr. Today, Carola Persiehl, a descendant of the founders, runs the gallery and features contemporary artists such as Jochen Hein, Maria Ikonomopoulou, and Klaus Schweier. In 2007, she co-founded the sister gallery Persiehl & Heine, specializing in contemporary photography. The gallery’s legacy of art enthusiasm and business acumen continues to thrive.
When the Commeter Art Gallery established its first location on Johannisstraße in 1821, it was the first business of its kind in Hamburg. Founding fathers Ernst Georg Harzen and Matthias Commeter played a significant role in shaping Hamburg's art scene. Today, the gallery remains a prominent institution in the city's art world. Over the decades, it has consistently been led by family members with a keen sense and passion for art. Since 1997, Carola Persiehl, whose great-great-grandfather took over the gallery, has managed the business. Under her leadership, the gallery has firmly established itself at the center of contemporary art. She follows a principle that has always been crucial to the gallery’s success: "You must fall in love with a painting to recommend it," she says about her work. A passion for art and business acumen, combined with the idealistic yet pragmatic belief that good, true, and beautiful things have their price, forms the legacy of Harzen and Commeter. This legacy has endured through the changing tides of history, providing the solid foundation for the art pieces that continue to be discovered at the Commeter Gallery today and in the future.
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Gallery
Commeter
"Every beginning has its magic," wrote Hermann Hesse. When the Commeter Art Gallery opened in 1821 on Johannisstraße, it was the first business of its kind in Hamburg. The founders, Ernst Georg Harzen and Johann Matthias Commeter, significantly shaped the city's art scene and left a lasting legacy with 30,000 engravings and drawings that founded the Kupferstichkabinett at the Kunsthalle. In 1847, Wilhelm Becker and Christian Meyer took over the gallery, which was further developed by Wilhelm Suhr in 1878 and moved to a magnificent Art Nouveau building in 1908. Suhr Junior led the gallery into the modern era, showcasing Munch, Nolde, and other Expressionists, becoming a key address for modern art. In 1952, Andreas Suhr took over, followed by his daughter Hella Suhr. Today, Carola Persiehl, a descendant of the founders, runs the gallery and features contemporary artists such as Jochen Hein, Maria Ikonomopoulou, and Klaus Schweier. In 2007, she co-founded the sister gallery Persiehl & Heine, specializing in contemporary photography. The gallery’s legacy of art enthusiasm and business acumen continues to thrive.
When the Commeter Art Gallery established its first location on Johannisstraße in 1821, it was the first business of its kind in Hamburg. Founding fathers Ernst Georg Harzen and Matthias Commeter played a significant role in shaping Hamburg's art scene. Today, the gallery remains a prominent institution in the city's art world. Over the decades, it has consistently been led by family members with a keen sense and passion for art. Since 1997, Carola Persiehl, whose great-great-grandfather took over the gallery, has managed the business. Under her leadership, the gallery has firmly established itself at the center of contemporary art. She follows a principle that has always been crucial to the gallery’s success: "You must fall in love with a painting to recommend it," she says about her work. A passion for art and business acumen, combined with the idealistic yet pragmatic belief that good, true, and beautiful things have their price, forms the legacy of Harzen and Commeter. This legacy has endured through the changing tides of history, providing the solid foundation for the art pieces that continue to be discovered at the Commeter Gallery today and in the future.
