From a girl from Emmen to a self-confident young woman. Isa Zwart feels supported in Drenthe

Evening in Emmen. The theater hall of Loods13 in the Rensenpark is sold out for NEXT. During the meeting organized by Erik de Vries of the Art & Culture Foundation, productions that were put together with provincial money will be presented. Singing, musical theater, spoken word, film, mixed forms – all made by novice artists.

From what passes, Collective Tender by Isa Zwart and Clé Delphi stands out. Black and Delphi came to Emmen with Corn flakes, no porn flakes , a sparkling performance in which two young women discuss their sexual curiosity, confusion and frustration. It leads to song, dance, adolescent amazement, feminist enthusiasm and outrage about patriarchy. All this wrapped up in a mature, forty-minute visually stimulating lesson about, er, masturbation through the ages.

Zwart and Delphi know each other from ArtEZ, the college for the arts in Arnhem. Corn flakes, no porn flakes is their second joint performance. They previously made together Witch’s hammer , inspired by the 15th century witch hunting manual of the same name. Delphi comes from Leusden. The 24-year-old Zwart was born and raised in Emmen.

Ada’s side

Earlier in the day, the latter walked away from a rehearsal to provide text and explanation. About her musical contribution to Ada’s side for example, the performance by theater group Mrs. Ogterop based on a text by Peter Middendorp. About her side career as a (solo) singer under the name ISZA. But also about I remember the song that earned her a role in the war film in 2019 Limitless betrayal .

Loods13 is familiar ground for Black. She participated in Total Loss, the youth project of the theater program, played in several performances and took a gap year in the Rensenpark before reporting to Arnhem. “I had doubts about what I wanted, conservatory or acting,” she reflects. “I thought: I will continue to do music, then go to drama school. During the gap year I discovered that I didn’t have to choose. If you want to make something, there are so many possibilities.”

With Loods13 as a stepping stone, she noticed that many paths are open for cultural talent in Drenthe. For example, she sang her songs on the street during the Gooi Maar In M’n Pet festival, participated in the Drentsch Peil XL development process and ended up at the Eurosonic festival with her own band through the Hit The North project. In 2016 she performed as an actress in clogs together with ‘t Aol Volk in the Atlas Theater. A year later, Zwart won the Drèents Liedtiesfestival in the same theater with the Drenthe pop song Mama see .

A clean slate

“That song has almost half a million streams and is still going very well,” she says proudly. “I also made English-language songs and also started writing in Dutch during corona times. At first mainly for myself, until someone advised me to share those songs, because they really hit home. People mainly knew me from that Mom see . To start with a clean slate, I changed my name.”

Outside Drenthe she presents herself as a singer as ISZA. Very handy. “It’s not fun if you expect someone with a Drenthe-language pop song who mainly sings alternative Dutch songs,” she says. “Now that I have finished my studies in Arnhem, I want to work more on ISZA. I’m working on an album Femina , of which three issues have now been released. In order to gather more and more audiences for my music, the rest will follow step by step.”

Femina represents a concert with theatrical intermezzos about what it is like to be a woman in a world that is not always female-friendly. “During my studies, I started studying feminism and how the treatment of women stems from a system determined by men,” she says. “Before I moved to Arnhem I didn’t even know the word patriarchy existed.”

Against immoral behavior

The title Corn flakes, no porn flakes refers to a campaign with which the American industrialist Will Keith Kellogg wanted to combat immoral behavior. Thanks to financial support from Drenthe, Zwart and Delphi have created the performance, which is thematically related Femina , can finish in Emmen. “Very nice, also because it is spacious and quiet here,” she says. “In Arnhem you are more distracted.”

As a 16-year-old, Zwart first stood out in the Loods13 performance Nobody wants to live in Emmen, singing loudly about lettuce, sushi and seaweed. Since then she has developed as a versatile performing artist. “It’s really nice to be hired for something, like… Ada’s side “, she says. “But I also have my own music, and with Teder also my own collective. The combination is nice, although sometimes I feel like I’m running behind everything.”

She feels supported in Drenthe, she says. “Now that I live in Arnhem, I notice that even more. When I look back I see how much help I received, and still receive, in Drenthe. All those talent programs… Of course, there are also things that are not available here, which means you have to leave the province. Apart from that, I feel that if people in Drenthe see something in you, they really want to help you.”