Bitterzoet is a documentary I did the sound design and composition for. It's a documentary with archival footage and interviews with students from the Jazz- Musical- Urban- Contemporary Dance department at the Amsterdam Academy of the Arts. The department was forced to shut down because, according to the education minister who decided this at that time, there were too many similar bachelor's of dance in the Netherlands. So just like the contemporary department in the same school JMD had to be shut down. This film is like a final hurrah and farewell for the education and it's legacy.
Empty Corridors
Part of the film was composing an original score. Luckily and sadly I had been part of the department to which this film was dedicated. During my time at the school I experienced a lot of laughter and tears. So I decided to write a little poem, a small humble requiem for the place that is left hollow by the lack of people. Which was also the general consensus of the film, what made the department special were the diverse students that it's curriculum drew in.
(2022) Lege Gangen, written for Bitterzoet
Ik weet nog hoe het was
De blauwe vloeren, rode bank
Een lege gang
Als ik de school verliet, diep in de nacht
Gebroken harten, sigaretten en flessen drank
Op die lege gang
Nu waardeloos zonder mensen
An Archive Deep Dive
I had to dive into the archives since I composed a lot of music at the department. Still I wanted to have some special pieces in there. Towards the end of the editing process I realised I had started making the final JMD piece with Gerleen Balstra (the artistic director) right before the pandemic started. Obviously miss-Rona had other plans and the original piece never played but I still had this sketch. I decided I would find a place for it towards the end of the film where it fit just right. Gerleen didn't remember the work, we only had one rehearsal. I wouldn't have recalled it either if I didn't have my archive. But now it's in the film as a last goodbye to her legacy. You can view the pieces we made further down in the archive.
(2020) Vaarwel, originally scored for Gerleen's final work at JMD
One Last Banger!
The last piece of original score I made was this more beat driven piece. I wrote it originally after seeing the trailer and telling Alessio, the director, that the music was a little... weak? Since the department also had a lot of singing classes focused on musical I felt obliged to have the vocal front and center on top of this urban beat. The same clash that was part of the curriculum I wanted to make part of the music.
The second demo is Bento, a sketch I made with an instrument by Giorgo Sancristoforo. Sometimes these off-time sketches come in useful like when scoring this documentary. Genen was a piece originally composed for the album Bloedband (it wasn't in the theatre piece) and now adapted for film.
(2022) Bitterzoet, composed for the Trailer, adapted for full film
(2021) Bento, an archive sketch
(2020) Genen, an adaptation from Bloedband the album
Putting together the soundtrack for the film and editing the voices was a passion project that flowed easily. Below you can see the full documentary and view the credits of all those who worked on the film. JMD will be dearly missed and it's especially sad that there won't be any new alumni. Nothing lasts forever and that is the bittersweet truth.
Director, camera, edit
Alessio Reedijk
Flip Kwakkel
Edit and Title Design:
Dex Kerr
Music and Sound Design:
Tom van Wee
AHK, JMD/UC Department