Leine and Roebana, Netherlands Dancing and Choreography Pair

Andrea Leine was born in 1966, studied ballet and modern dance at the Scapino Dansacademie and the Rotterdam Dansacademie. She worked with Studio Onafhankelijk Toneel and danced among others with Donald Flemming and also dances in most of Leine & Roebana's performances. Harijono Roebana, born in 1955, studied philosophy and performance studies at the University of Amsterdam and modern dance at the Theaterschhool in Amsterdam, and has a background in music as well. Early in his career, Roebana dance in performances by choreographers Svea Staltman, Arthur Rosenfeld, Jose Besprovany and for Studio Onafhankelijk Toneel and dances among others with Donald Flemming and also dances in most Leine & Roebana works.

Leine & Roebana have developed a unique dance idiom based on a novel approach to symmetry, rhythm and composition. Their quest to express the complexity of reality and the interference of its constituent parts has led to the creation of a highly original language of movement. Previous works by Leine & Roebana have been considerably more theatrical; more recently, however, they have reduced the dramatic elements in their performances in order to explore the possibilities of pure movement. In the late 1990s, they were scrutinizing the development of movement in individual parts of the body, the juxtaposition of rapid dynamics, and stillness and irony. Over the years, their work has been highly praised and rewarded, they've received awards from all over Europe.

Leine & Roebana isolate movement in a way that causes capriciousness. The body falls apart, and the result is what they call "physical schizophrenia", which happens in The Circle Effect. To the electronic compositions of their work Sound Pallerre individuals and groups portray a world of high energy to "spineless" and clumsy are quite difficult for the dancers. The search for beauty is ever-present in these distorted body movements.

It is fascinating what Leine & Roebana have achieved in such a short time; they are unique in the Dutch dance world. For their efforts, Andrea Leine and Harijono Roebana recieved a subsidy for a few years, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to pay a group of dancers for longer that a few months. Yet the future is more than bright for Leine & Roebana, as they are clearly still on the rise.