As we celebrate four decades of Northern School of Contemporary Dance, we’re stepping into another milestone: VERVE turns 20!
For two decades, we’ve launched dancers into the world, artists who now perform and collaborate with some of the most exciting companies across the globe.
This special 26/27 season celebrates bold partnerships, past and present, with two visionary companies:
(LA)HORDE returning with People used to die, which was their first ever collaboration with a UK dance company
KOR’SIA bringing The Garden back home after its international success
And to top it off, a brand new creation by MATTEO MARFOGLIA completes the triple bill
Tour across the UK, grow your artistry, work with various guest artists, develop teaching skills and participate in exchanges with peers. Ready to move boldly and be part of VERVE’s 20th year? Applications are open to join NSCD’s postgraduate touring company!
Course Info Apply NowAntonio de Rosa and Mattia Russo: Artistic Directors and Choreographers of KOR’SIA
Graduates in classical and contemporary dance from the Ballet School of Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Antonio de Rosa(Castellammare di Stabia, Naples) and Mattia Russo (Atripalda, Avellino) developed their careers in prestigious European institutions before joining Spain’s National Dance Company, where they worked between 2011 and 2017.
In 2015, they founded the collective KOR’SIA in Madrid, together with researcher Giuseppe Dagostino, with the aim of exploring new forms of stage expression through the body, movement, and contemporary creation. Their work is characterised by a visual and physical language that intertwines emotion, thought, and reflection on today’s world.
Internationally acclaimed, they have created works for companies such as Nederlands Dans Theater (Netherlands), GöteborgsOperans Danskompani (Sweden), Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (Germany), Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (Germany), Theater Luzern and Bern Ballet (Switzerland), Opéra National du Rhin – Opéra de Strasbourg (France), Ballets de Monte-Carlo (Monaco), and Opéra Grand Avignon (France), among others.
About KOR’SIA
Based in Madrid, KOR’SIA is an artistic collective led by choreographers Antonio de Rosa and Mattia Russo, in collaboration with researcher Giuseppe Dagostino and dramaturge and performing arts professor Agnès López-Río.
Their work takes the body as a tool for thought, emotion, and transformation, with the goal of activating performative devices capable of imagining new possible modes of existence.
KOR’SIA is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, as well as by the Community and City of Madrid. Their artistic reach extends beyond their own creations, with collaborations including Nederlands Dans Theater, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Theater Luzern, Bern Ballet, Opéra National du Rhin, Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, Das Hessische Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Ballets de Monte-Carlo, and Opéra Grand Avignon, among others.
Their works have been presented on major international stages such as the Théâtre National de la Danse Chaillot, Tanz im August, Grec Festival de Barcelona, Mercat de les Flors, and La Biennale di Venezia, among others.
For their creation Mont Ventoux (2023), they received the prestigious FEDORA – Van Cleef & Arpels Prize for Ballet, the Max Award for Best Dance Production, and were recognized by Time Out as Best Show of the Year.
Find out more about KOR'SIA(LA)HORDE is a French artistic collective founded in 2013 by Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, and Arthur Harel. Since 2019, they have served as the artistic directors of the Ballet National de Marseille, which they have transformed into a center for innovative and inclusive contemporary dance. Their work spans choreography, cinema, installation, and digital art, constantly exploring the role of the body in society and its interaction with digital culture.
Their first major work, *TO DA BONE* (2017), explored jumpstyle and other online dance phenomena, highlighting how digital communities generate new forms of collective expression. This research laid the foundation for their concept of “post-Internet dance,” which questions the influence of online platforms on physical movement and identity. In 2020, (LA)HORDE presented *Room With A View* at Théâtre du Châtelet, in collaboration with electronic musician Rone. Commissioned by the Châtelet, the work tackled themes of ecological collapse and social upheaval. Although its first run was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the performance returned to the Châtelet in September 2022 to sold-out audiences, confirming its critical success. It was later presented at NYU’s Skirball Center in New York in October 2023. Their most recent creation, *Age of Content* (2024), investigates the saturation of digital imagery and its impact on perception and reality. Premiered in Paris at Théâtre du Châtelet, it was revived in 2025 at Sadler’s Wells in London as part of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels festival and continues its international tour. In 2024, (LA)HORDE collaborated with theater director Ivo van Hove on *I Want Absolute Beauty*, a musical theatre production starring actress Sandra Hüller and featuring songs by PJ Harvey. Premiered at the Ruhrtriennale Festival in Bochum on August 16, 2024, under van Hove’s artistic direction, the piece added a new dimension to their repertoire.
Beyond the stage, (LA)HORDE also engages with the contemporary art world through collaborations with institutions such as New Galerie in Paris. Their exhibition *Heureux sous son ombre* at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami (October 16, 2024 – April 27, 2025) exemplifies their interdisciplinary approach, featuring the video installation *Bondy* (2017) and newly commissioned sculptures that explore community and spatial dynamics. Across their diverse projects, (LA)HORDE continues to redefine contemporary dance through inclusivity, digital culture, and the transformative power of collective movement. Their influence extends far beyond the performing arts. In 2023–2024, (LA)HORDE served as choreographic directors for Madonna’s *Celebration* tour, translating their movement language into a new pop spectacle. They also created stage and video works for Sam Smith, collaborated with Gilles Lellouche on the film *Amour Ouf*, and partnered with several major brands (Hermès, Burberry, Alpine), notably Chanel, for dance performances during the Cruise 24/25 fashion shows in Marseille and Hong Kong – infusing haute couture with subversive expressivity.
In 2025, a new chapter begins: *Room With A View* will be presented at the Sónar Festival in Barcelona, marking the first large-scale choreographic work ever programmed at this globally recognised festival for electronic music and digital arts. *Age of Content* will also be staged at Théâtre de la Ville in Paris in spring 2025. Meanwhile, (LA)HORDE continues to develop new large-scale productions, reaffirming their commitment to queer, feminist, and post-Internet aesthetics while expanding the boundaries of dance today.
Find out more about (LA)HORDEMatteo has an extensive career as a performer, choreographer, director and educator. Matteo danced for many years with Introdans, Netherlands and National Dance Company Wales in the UK. Matteo founded his own project-based company in Cardiff (2017). Matteo’s work has been commissioned by organisations in Wales including NDCWales, Wales Millenium Centre and Rubicon Dance, as well as being presented at international festivals. Matteo holds a BA (Hons) in Dance (Codarts Rotterdam) and MA Dance Teaching & Facilitating (NSCD). Matteo has recently worked in a collaborative performance project as Movement Director in partnership with National Youth Theatre and Leeds 2023.
Matteo’s research looks at how to make ballet accessible and useful for the learning of contemporary dance students of the 21st Century. This research stems from his MA and he is continuing to use it as his teaching approach in combining his two teaching practices, Gaga and ballet, as a form of training for MA students at NSCD. Matteo is a certified Gaga Teacher – Gaga Teachers’ Training course in 2018-2019. Matteo received a Creative Wales Award from the Arts Council of Wales to research taking dance outside of traditional theatre venues and into more unconventional spaces. Matteo is interested in exploring how movement can be generated by responding to communities, histories and the inhabitants of particular places. Matteo participated on a panel discussion as part of the NSCD Knowledge Exchange Conference in January 2023 and is establishing international partnerships for VERVE with educational institutions such as Equilibrio Dinamico in Italy.
Find out more about Matteo Marfoglia
