The Dutch-Iraqi Maya Link was born in the Amsterdam Pijp in an artists’ nest. She is a theatre maker, singer, actress, presenter, organiser, program maker and songwriter. All these roles have one thing in common, and that is the stage. Moving people, making them laugh, making them dance, touching them, holding up a mirror, bringing out the child in them and taking them into her world, in whatever form. Maya is described as an expressive, ambitious, and extremely versatile stage animal.

Maya makes her own music theatre productions. In her studio in Ruigoord she works on her performances and projects. As a theatre maker, she tries to investigate bizarre situations that catch her by surprise in daily life and turns them into theatre. Boundaries which are tested, crossed or imposed appeal to her anarchism. In her work, in which humour and drama are seamlessly intertwined, she searches for a form in which she can express her resistance and, through musical theatre, turn it into a universal topic.

As an actress and singer, she plays several leading roles in the music theatre productions for children Samba Salad, is front woman and songwriter of the band Collectief Explosief, and teaches music, dance, and theatre at schools. Since her childhood, Maya has performed on stages such as Paradiso, Tivoli Vredenburg, Heineken Music Hall, Bimhuis and Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ.

‘For me, the Amsterdam Vrijhaven is the place where I have the space to develop as a maker. Here I keep being fed by the inexhaustible source of inspiration, the cross-pollination of disciplines and people. On top of that, I fell in love here; I met Tycho Hellinga, and three years later we had our son Nino.”

‘The Amsterdam Vrijhaven is the place where I have the space to evolve as a creator. Here I am nourished by the inexhaustible source of inspiration, the cross-pollination of disciplines and people. On top of that, I fell in love here. I met Tycho Hellinga and three years later we had our son Nino.’

Website: www.mayalink.nl