Dansateliers Date Night x Yoko Haveman

Dansateliers is the home for contemporary dance development in Rotterdam, offering space for talent, experimentation, and innovation—from emerging artists to international collaborations. At Dansateliers, a wide range of dance makers find their place to explore, grow, and develop their unique voice.

On February 17 and 18, Theater Rotterdam and Dansateliers are hosting Dansateliers Date Night once again. Here, you meet the dance makers of tomorrow as they share insights into their work and creative process. During this edition, you’ll have a date with Yoko Haveman, who will present a special try-out exclusively for Date Night, followed by the premiere of her brand-new performance: A Tribute to Everything That Breaks. Shall we have a date?

A tribute to everything that breaks is an interdisciplinary psycho-dystopian solo performance that confronts the eroticization of violence, inspired by the world of neo-noir anime. Drawing on hyper-stylized bodies and pop-cultural innocence, Yoko Haveman examines hyper-sexualization, power, and isolation through the charged notions of Lolicon and Hikikomori. Moving between subjective ugliness, seduction, and resistance, the body refuses to be fetishized or victimized, emerging instead as an autonomous force.

Yoko Haveman is an independent artist: director, maker, and performer, with a tri-cultural background (Brazilian, Japanese, Dutch). Her work investigates the relationship between the body, subcutaneous trauma, and human complexity, operating at the intersection of performance art, dance, and cinematic imagery. A tribute to everything that breaks is an artistic act in which the body withdraws from fixed, systemic roles and reclaims its own agency.

Bio Yoko Haveman
Yoko Haveman (1994, Brazilian/Japanese) is an independent interdisciplinary artist: director, maker, and performer working across both theater and film. Her work collides performance, visual poetry, and experimentation with themes such as eroticism, trauma, and idealism. She is graduate of the Academy of Modern Theatre and Dance in Amsterdam, and has collaborated with renowned artists and companies, including Rauwkost Film, Dansateliers, Ann van den Broek and De Dansers.

She creates sensorial experiences in which the body becomes an integral part of the narrative. Her previous works, such as Solastalgia (2023), Conundrum (2022), the upcoming dance film NOSEBLEED (2026), and the theatre production a tribute to everything that breaks (2026), demonstrate her experimental language and her desire to confront, move, and invite audiences into deep vulnerability and reflection.

In 2022, Yoko was nominated for the Young Swan Award in the category of Most Impressive Performance, presented by the Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors (VSCD, NL).