La Mer

Originally created for Boston Ballet in collaboration with the world-renowned Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, La Mer is a visually rich and emotionally charged dance production by Nanine Linning. Dedicated to the beauty and vulnerability of the oceans — and the urgent threats they face, the work will be developed into a full-length performance by Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in October 2026.

La Mer is a dialogue between science, art, and society. It engages audiences on visual, emotional, and intellectual levels while fostering urgent reflection on the environmental crisis. Designed for international touring, the production offers a unique opportunity for venues to engage their audiences in a shared ecological reality.

Set to the music of Debussy (La Mer and Sirènes), Nanine Linning contrasts the romantic depiction of the sea from the early 20th century with today’s harsh reality : pollution, rising sea levels, and endangered ecosystems. The sirens become a poetic metaphor for human greed.

In an immersive hybrid of dance, music, fashion, and video art, the stage turns into an immersive space that encourages reflection and introspection on our own actions. The visual scenography by Heleen Blanken and the eco-responsible costumes by Yuima Nakazato enhance the visual impact — majestic, mysterious, and deeply unsettling. Contemporary music by Yannis Kyriakides is inspired by hydrophone recordings made in the deepest parts of the ocean, which shows that rather than being the quietest place on earth, it is full of life.

« At the heart of La Mer is the current state of the oceans in the Anthropocene age. I wanted to create scenes that address sirens as a metaphor for our behavior of greed and find visual answers on how to stage concepts like deep sea mining, dead zones, and oil spills, as well as pristine oceans and extraordinary natural forces.

I see the comparison of the ocean with the body, as my own body, and its fragile inner ecosystem. My goal with this multimedia dance production was to create a new world where video, set, and light fully merge with dance and music. »

Nanine Linning

« Anima Obscura is a fantastic and beautiful, but also disturbing piece that draws you further and further into its spell with increasing tension. But also with the perfect interplay of dance and video animation, music and light as well as stage design and costumes. Thanks to the tangible commitment of all the artists, a total work of art was created, for which the audience thanked them with standing ovations and never-ending applause. »

Uta Jostwerner, Westfalen Blatt