Cesena
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Witness the Break of Dawn
A capella voices rise, their only allies are silence, breathing and the floor that squeaks and resonates under their feet. Blending into a single body, the 19 performers of the dance company Rosas and the vocal ensemble graindelavoix express devastation and the hope for a better tomorrow, a new dawn. Dancers and singers merge together as they grope through the shadows seeking sunlight. They bring to vibrant life the spellbinding harmonics of songs from the 14th century, an era of drama and violence when a pope ordered the massacre of the town of Cesena, Italy. This space-time bubble is graced by spare, uncluttered dance inspired by walking and human footsteps.
In the second part of a diptych that began with En Atendant, the choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and the musicologist Björn Schmelzer orchestrate a pure marvel by extolling the exquisite essence of the ars subtilior musical style, and contrasting it with the gravity and bounding energy of a mostly male cast. Transcendent.
June 2, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $65 / $55 / $40
Under 30, over 65:
$55 / $45 / $35
Reserved seats
Metro Place-des-Arts
Mathematics of Space and Time
A leading figure in contemporary dance renowned for her acute understanding of music, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker established an international reputation in the early 1980s with her duo Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich (presented in 2008 at Usine C), and the ensemble piece Rosas danst Rosas, which was the inspiration for the name of her company. In 1995 Rosas worked with the prestigious Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels – where she was artist in residence from 1992 to 2007 – to create the acclaimed international school P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios), training many up-and-coming artists. A regular presence (five different editions) at the FIND festival, her company will be appearing this year at the FTA with En Atendant (2010) and Cesena (2011), which feature ars subtilior music.
Updating Ancient Music
An ethnomusicologist and anthropologist by training, Björn Schmelzer lives in Antwerp where he founded the experimental collective graindelavoix in 1999. An ancient music enthusiast, he pursues unconventional paths in order to allow ancient music to fully flourish in the present, magnifying all the qualities and nuances of the human voice as a musical instrument. The singers’ knowledge and know-how are put to use to make the work come alive beyond the score through ornamentation, improvisation, phrasing and gesture in an exaltation of the music that gives magnificent life to the sounds of the past and the images they convey. His exceptional approach has found new forms of experimentation in this collaboration with Rosas.
Press Quote(s)
« Un moment de grâce, une expérience fragile, pleine d’émotions. (…) Elle l’a fait à sa manière, en grande artiste, radicale, sans concessions, prouvant que le dépouillement peut créer encore davantage d’émotions et faire naître en chacun des images, des sons, des sentiments de beauté et de mélancolie. »
Guy Duplat, La Libre Belgique, 18 juillet 2011
« Voix et corps ne font qu’un au point de ne pouvoir quasiment jamais distinguer les danseurs des chanteurs. C’est le chant qui porte les corps et ceux-ci mettent la musique en mouvement. (…) Danseurs et chanteurs unissent leurs voix et leurs gestes entre élan mystique et sensualité. »
Jean-Marie Wynants, Le Soir, 18 juillet 2011
« Un mystère de corps et de voix. (…) La sensation d’observer un tout organique – espace, air, chair ne faisant qu’un dans le mouvement et la voix – est un délice. (…) un magistral exploit (…) Ampleur esthétique, vision et intelligence combinées, Cesena et son corps polyphonique feront date. »
Rosita Boisseau, Le Monde, 18 juillet 2011
« On est suspendu à la beauté des chants, puis lorsqu’ils se taisent, au ballet d’ombres, aux souffles et au bruit des pas... »
Rosita Boisseau, Le Figaro, 18 juillet 2011
"Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker opens doors, even batters some down; in short, she is a major artist."
New York Times
Links
Credits
PRODUCED BY Rosas + graindelavoix
CREATED BY Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker + Björn Schmelzer
CHOREOGRAPHY Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
MUSIC DIRECTION Björn Schmelzer
CO-CREATED AND PERFORMED BY Olalla Alemán + Haider Al Timimi + Bostjan Antoncic + Aron Blom + Carlos Garbin + Marie Goudot + Lieven Gouwy + David Hernandez + Matej Kejzar + Mikael Marklund + Tomàs Maxé + Julien Monty + Chrysa Parkinson + Marius Peterson + Michael Pomero + Albert Riera + Gabriel Schenker + Yves Van Handenhove + Sandy Williams
SET DESIGN Ann Veronica Janssens
COSTUME DESIGN Anne-Catherine Kunz
COPRODUCTION La Monnaie (Brussels) + Festival d’Avignon + Théâtre de la Ville (Paris) + Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg + Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht + Guimarães 2012 + Steirischer Herbst (Graz) + deSingel (Antwerp) + Concertgebouw Brugge
PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH Place des Arts
WRITTEN BY Fabienne Cabado
TRANSLATED BY Neil Kroetsch
514 844 3822 / 1 866 984 3822
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED / FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES