Rif's Open Studio = unique opportunity to discover a work-in-progress by our residents in an informal setting. Admission is free and there is no need to book.

Welcome to the open studio of the new musical theatre performance Hold the house

Hold the House is a dance and performance solo in which Anastassya Savitsky explores her experiences as a young mother and former refugee. The birth of her daughter coincided with new wars in Ukraine and Gaza, making her own layered background-between Belarus and Belgium-once again acutely palpable. In the solo, she tries to get a grip on that inner tornness: the tipping point where the familiar becomes strange and where love, ideology, care and threat meet.

The show works with a minimal set of objects that fit into one laundry basket. These everyday objects constantly transform: a spatula becomes a weapon, a teapot lid a shield, a brush a boundary marker. Thus, the domestic turns into a symbolic battlefield. With pared-down scenography, lighting and a sensory soundscape, a world is created that feels larger than what is visible.

Music acts not as accompaniment but as a creative force. Sound forms a dramaturgical element that directs space, movement and tension. During her residency at Rif, Savitsky plans to work with composer Jonas Vermeulen to develop an original composition that emerges directly from the physical actions in the solo. She explores how dance and sound can generate each other and how small movements can transform sound and meaning.