We are Frans Poelstra and Robert Steijn and together we form United Sorry. Frans Poelstra, who lives in Vienna started as a choreographer and improvising dancer. Robert Steijn who lives a nomadic live in Europe, started as a dramaturge to become performance artist. Frans and Robert started working together in 2003 and together they make performances and installation art for theatres, galleries, festivals. They also try to give workshops.

DJ Sorry

Robert Steijn worked as a dance critic for seven years, and then also as a curator for dance and experimental theatre in Amsterdam for seven years. Now he tries to bring the magic back in life and in the theatre. In that sense he considers himself more and more a magician. His helper is a deer, who appears in a lot of his texts and dances. His belief is that everyone can become a home made contemporary shaman. His path towards becoming such a magician has been described in his three solo’s: the first solo was his call in guiding the death of his father, the second one, his ego death in the loss of everything by the breaking of the heart and now in his third solo: the birth of a person who can cross the thin line between reality and imagination, between life and death.

influences: In making dance performances he feels influenced by two dutch choreographers with whom he worked for more than ten years as a dramaturge: Gonnie Heggen and Desiree Delauney. In inventing rituals he is influenced by his collaboration with the Dutch director Lidy Six. In his thinking about art, he is strongly influenced by the mentality of the work of Jack Smith and the formality and playfullness of the performances of Dan Graham and Matt Mullican. In his belief in the spiritual dimension of theatre he is influenced by his encounters with the Korean Shaman Hi ah Park, by ayuasca rituals, and long walks in the mountains and in the forest.

Biography As a kid Robert Steijn played more with dolls than with cars. He still hasn’t got a driving license, but he has had a lot of girlfriends and fell in love with several men who had big cars. Dreaming of becoming a dancer, but not exactly excellent in sports, he decided to study dance studies to become a dance dramaturge. He happened to be the first dance dramaturge of the Netherlands. For him dramaturgy is a matter of keeping channels open - in order to think, to listen and to dream, without taking any responsibility for form, structure or interpretation. As a dramaturg he wants to dance through all possible virtual realities of thoughts and associations. During the collaborative improvisation event „Tarzan“ he realized that Frans Poelstra triggered him to be severe, sharp and stubborn together. On the basis of this experience they decided to work together.

Mister United

Biography As a kid Frans Poelstra stared more into the waters of the canals in Amsterdam than being at school. He still hasn’t got a degree, but he kept his dreams. Dreams of being the next Jimi Hendrix, but he had no talent to play the guitar, so he decided to work in the theatre, the place where you can dream on a professional level. First he worked as a technician, later on as a performer. For him, performing is a matter of keeping channels open - in order to think, to listen and to dream, without taking any responsibility for form, structure or interpretation. As a performer he wants to dance through all possible virtual realities of thoughts and associations. During the collaborative improvisationevent „Tarzan“ he realized that Robert Steijn triggered him to be open, caring and trustful. On the basis of this experience they decided to work together.