“Choreographer Lea Ved’s Endless, Near offered something more eternal: the recognition that our need for connection operates on the same frequency as planetary motion. Ved described her process with the kind of cosmic awareness that makes you want to lie down in a field and contemplate your place in the universe: “We know that we are governed by the same laws as the planets, as what changes the tides, what changes the seasons… I think there’s a tapestry between our creative being our art, our bodies our dancing, and the scope of something much larger than ourselves.”

In a moment when political forces seem intent on atomizing us—making us strangers to our neighbors, suspicious of our communities, isolated in our grief—Ved’s work insisted on connection as a fundamental force. The piece moved “between the tension of those very far distal points,” and we felt it viscerally. “Beautiful. It was tense, the push and pull of love,” one of us observed.

Here’s where it gets political: even our most intimate longings are shaped by the world we’re living through. “Reminded me of how it feels to desire love and closeness, how we yearn for what is ultimately impossible (complete melding of souls), and how once we reach the beloved, we yearn once more for freedom. The heart is insatiable,” one reflected. That insatiable quality—the way we push and pull even in love—mirrors the larger cultural moment where we’re told we can’t have security and freedom, community and autonomy, safety and wildness.

Ved’s work made cosmic longing feel intimate, and intimate longing feel cosmic. “We’re not only embodying the stage,” Ved explained. “There’s some dissipation of life from the walls. It’s kind of opening the windows and opening the doors.” In times when walls feel like they’re closing in—literal borders, metaphorical barriers, the suffocating grip of surveillance capitalism—that opening feels like resistance.”

— Daniel Goodman, Joshua Knapp, Ximena Velazquez-Arenas, and Ben Clinton - Through the Static

“On the other hand, I was intrigued by Lea Ved’s Endless, Near, slower and more contemplative than the first two works on the bill.

In brief program notes, Ved writes that she’s taking us on a journey to the place where “external drive meets the intricate terrain of inner life.” I was interested in the movement; the dancers often appeared in an amoeba-like chain, oozing together across the stage. Sometimes they touched one another, sometimes they spun around each other, arms extended straight out from their bodies. Endless, Near concludes with a series of silent tableaux, Brendan Faegre’s almost melancholy score fading out while the dancers move on.

Ved dances with Nederland Dans Theatre, but her work also reflects her experiences with the Montreal-based RUBBERBAND dance as well as the Royal Swedish Ballet. At one point during her new piece for Whim W’Him, Ved’s choreography reminded me of Lar Lubovitch’s North Star.

If Ved’s Endless, Near stands out on Whim W’Him’s Fall ’25 program, it’s a little more difficult to point to one dancer who looms above company peers”

— Marcie Silliman - Seattle Cultural Journalist

“How we move through the dark is a delicate and poetic excavation of the spaces between solitude and connection, guided by the expressive physicality of the Poetic Disasters Club and the intuitive choreographic hand of Lea Ved. The performance unfolds like a living poem—bodies move with a soft vulnerability, tracing invisible lines between earth and flesh, memory and presence.

Set within an immersive soundscape, the dancers evoke shadowy terrains where every gesture feels like both a question and an answer. Ved’s choreography balances rawness with precision, allowing the performers to drift between instinct and form. The sensation of being lost and found—of collapsing and catching—threads through the piece like a whispered promise.

What sets this work apart is its refusal to define the unknown; instead, it embraces mystery. The dancers seem to breathe in rhythm with the dark, guided not by light but by the quiet force of interbeing. Earth and body blur, and in this boundarylessness, something transcendent emerges.

How we move through the dark is a haunting, honest meditation on the human need for touch, for anchoring, and for the unseen forces that guide us when everything else fades to black.”

— Migle Duncikaite - ArtsTalk Magazine

“I followed the Heavy Hitters in the artistic process led by Lea Ved, culminating in the performance Common Enemy. I was impressed by this first performance...I also noticed the rawness: there is heavy pulling and wrestling. You rarely see this rawness on (inter)national dance stages, where, for my taste, polished forms are chosen just too often, as if what is seen as “masculine” is no longer allowed to be expressed. The rawness alternates with vulnerable, tranquil scenes so that, in addition to the collective, you also experience the individual qualities and story of each dancer.”

— Geesje Prins - Main Programmer, Amare

“It was crazy to see what was created by matching The Heavy Hitters and Lea Ved. Two worlds, with different principles, that really meet each other. A whirlwind of raw energy and a calmer observer who knows how to make the right invitations. Lea guided the full pull male bravado into vulnerable channels and the Hague breakers in turn opened up so that they could discover and explore deeper grounds together. Together in Common Enemy they show the breadth of male friendship that ranges from challenge and machismo to loyalty and deep love for each other. A beautiful portrait of this group of dancers that makes you want to see even more of them.”

— Marc Maris - Dance programmer, Korzo

“Common Enemy is both brutally hard and mercilessly soft. Sometimes you can almost smell the testosterone. Choreographer Lea Ved has clearly been embraced by the brotherhood, which has allowed them to create such an authentic piece together. Common Enemy is fuelled by the friendship and stories of the Heavy Hitters. And don't forget their skills! This collaboration between crew and choreographer is a special new chapter in the development of 'hip-hop from the street to the theatre.'

— Julie Vegter - Dance Programmer, Vondelpark Openlight Theater

“Common enemy is a dynamic group choreography that makes clever use of the elements of breaking and contemporary dance theater.
It is a raw and intense piece that continues to fascinate.
The choreographer Lea Ved has clearly kept the group as authentic as possible and that makes the end result real and catchy.”

— Andre "Drosha" Grekhov – Artistic Director Stichting Sample Culture, Urban Dansdagen

"The performance was a remarkable example of how combining distinct styles of dance can give birth to a new and captivating artistic signature. Throughout the entire performance, I found myself deeply attuned to the fact that the creation of the piece has acted as a conduit for heightened understanding and profound exchange. The realization of the piece succeeded in seamlessly blending two seemingly disparate dance forms by transcending their individual essences. The synergy that unfolds on the stage is a testament to the creative possibilities that arise when diverse movement languages interweave in harmonious conversation. Guided by Lea Ved, the dancers of Heavy Hitters embraced the intricacies of each style and interwove them into a cohesive whole. I could feel that both performers and the choreographer expanded the horizons of their expertise, and the result of this collaboration resonates with authenticity.”

— Isabelle Chaffaud, Artistic Director CLOUD DansLab

“The world premiere of "Of lost and wild roses", on the small stage, was a dense little dance drama for three in choreography by Lea Ved from Nederlands Dans Theater, NDT....In "Of lost and wild roses", Fan Luo, Yasmin Mahmod, and Danielle de Vries dance sensitively and vigorously with the audience close by. With three carpets, three lamps, two chairs and a desk, Ved's choreography marks three lives and rooms where the movements are intertwined. Integrity, the longing for contact, and tangled relationships are fine-tuned in half an hour. A good start to the festival.”

— Lis Hellström Sveningson, Göteborgs-Posten

“her refined body motor skills, subtly varying to the square millimeter, make Darling We're Nowhere but Here a fascinating half hour.
Dancers Simon Bus and Alesya Dobysh (dressed in four shades of beige) go through relational phases, from probing to savage prying.”

— Annette Embrechts, Volkskrant

“She moves modestly between different aesthetics.
It’s sensitive, physically intelligent, and subtle.
Her journey towards an original dance language is unique and inspiring.”

— Club Guy & Roni

“This is the choreography of a touch and emotion...seeking movements express both the longing and the doubt that each one carries. The impression is soft and tactile, like a physical blues. There are no straight lines, and every solo lands in the group's rocking community that draws everyone.”

“Lea Ved creates a dreamy mood for a soundtrack of speldosa, sea noise, rose and rain. It's an evasive world, a shady kingdom”

“The choreography is penetrated by inward presence. It is well done in its poetic seriousness”

— Anna Ångström, Svenska Dagbladet

“moves in one very positive playing universe where nothing holds and the mind strives secure strategies”

— Mika Becker, Borås Tidning

“each shape becomes a strong picture of the loneliness that is in existence. Stunning beautiful in a clogged way and an extremely worthy final”

— Malena Forsare, Sydsvenskan

“With tremendous movements they examine what drives us, both forward and backward. The bodies are moving in and out of each other, clinging together into strong collections and slipping out as individual fragments. Shadow play gives in-depth effects on the well-developed flow.”

— Lis Hellström Sveningson, Göteborgs-Posten

“Roll and softness are mixed with more street-like short movements with clear-cut stops. The costume's earthy colors also affect the dance. A sense of harmony lies like an umbrella across the scene. Towards the end a duet is danced and confidence is total”

— Jenny Berkán, Dansportalen

“Lea Ved’s The Cadence was an apt piece to finish the evening. Ms. Ved’s approach to choreography is current and fresh. You see the influences of Hofesh Schecter, Crystal Pite and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in both her phrasing and movement choices.

Ms. Ved’s approach to movement is almost pedestrian in that simple actions and gestures are colored and expanded into larger movements. She creates a sense of tension that is held, even explored during the work.”

— Darrell Wood, NYC Dance Stuff