Press information Who Killed Cock Robin? A boy's initiation through fantasy and nightmare
Music theatre by Joanna Dudley, Rufus Didwiszus and the Capilla Flamenca Produced by BINDER + PARTNER BERLIN
WED December 12, 2007, 20 h Concertgebouw Brugge World première in the cause of DecemberDance 07 (Artistic director: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui) FRI December 14, 2007, 21 h Ballhaus Naunyn Berlin, preview SAT December 15, 2007, 20 h Ballhaus Naunyn Berlin, première – SAVE THE DATE! SUN December 16, 2007, 15 h and 20 h Ballhaus Naunyn Berlin
Creation, vocal, performance Joanna Dudley Creation, design Rufus Didwiszus Video artist Samuel Dématraz Musical research, musical director Dirk Snellings Music, performance Capilla Flamenca
Who Killed Cock Robin? is a bizarre and poetic journey of initiation, children's fantasy and dark nightmare. The performance of Joanna Dudley and Rufus Didwiszus reveals scenes of dark beauty and leads the audience into a surreal world of ritual and ceremony, to the accompaniment of Ars Nova music, a 14th century genre of vocal music, masterfully adapted by the renowned vocal and instrumental ensemble Capilla Flamenca.
This is the story of a fat little boy (Joanna Dudley) who one evening leaves the safety of his home to set out on a journey. On the way he meets six bearded guardians (Capilla Flamenca). Drawn to these men, the boy entrusts himself to the care of this strict community. A journey of transformation begins, accompanied by expressive singing and the video compositions of Swiss artist Samuel Dématraz, whose works conjure up an atmosphere of disquieting, dark beauty.
Seductive and powerful, Who Killed Cock Robin? explores traditional narratives, alternating between animism, transitional rites and fantasy, and in doing so continually blurs the border between reality and fiction. Who Killed Cock Robin? is the first joint production between Joanna Dudley, Rufus Didwiszus and Capilla Flamenca since the great success of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's Foi.
Pressewerke für BINDER + PARTNER BERLIN: Agnes Manier, [email protected], +49 174 2985541, +49 30 798 509 33
Infos and Onlinetickets are available at www.ballhausnaunyn.de, www.bp-berlin.com and www.joannadudley.de
2/3 Bass Dirk Snellings Countertenor Marnix De Cat Tenor Tore Denys Baritone Lieven Termont Viol/Fiddle Liam Fennelly Lute Floris De Rycker
Arrangement and libretto of the Grahame Dudley Song "Who Killed Cock Robin?"
Design costumes Ulrike Gutbrod for Joanna Dudley
Artistic team:
Joanna Dudley studied music at the Adelaide Conservatorium, Australia, and the Sweelink Conservatorium in the Netherlands. She also studied traditional Japanese music and theatre in Japan and traditional dance and music in Java. While living in Berlin, she worked as a guest on numerous projects at the Schaubühne Theatre, including her solo show He Taught Me to Yodel (2002), My Dearest My Fairest (2000) by and with Joanna and Juan Kruz Garaio de Esnaola and colours may fade with friction read instructions carefully store in a cool and dry place no side effects (2004), in which Joanna once again collaborated with Esnaola and set designer Rufus Didwiszus. She has toured the world with her work. Joanna Dudley also co-created and performed in Foi, choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui with Les Ballets C de la B. For this piece she won the award for the best actress in a dance piece from the Dance International Magazine. Her sound installation Tom's Song was exhibited as part of the Sonambiente Festival in Berlin 2006. Her most recent work, The Scorpionfish, is a solo performance, again in collaboration with Rufus Didwiszus. www.joannadudley.de
Rufus Didwiszus has worked at the Münchner Kammerspiele with Christian Stückl, the Baracke DT and the Schaubühne Theatre in Berlin with Thomas Ostermeier, the Schauspielhaus Hamburg, the Salzburg Festival and the Edinburgh Festival. He has also created sets for Tom Kühnel at the TAT-Frankfurt, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Les Ballets C de la B, Belgium, and at the Royal Dramaten in Stockholm for Stefan Larsson. In 2004/2005 he co-created and designed the set for colours may fade with friction read instructions carefully store in a cool and dry place no side effects with Joanna Dudley and Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola. In 2006, Didwiszus co-created and designed The Scorpionfish, a joint project with Joanna Dudley.
The vocal and instrumental ensemble Capilla Flamenca takes its name from the choir of the court chapel of Emperor Charles V. When Charles left the Low Countries for Spain in 1517, he took his best musicians with him to accompany him as a “living polyphony”. Today’s Capilla Flamenca recruits its specialized musicians mainly from Flanders and thus aims to breathe new life into the unique sound of this wonderful 14th - 16th century music in all its authenticity. Drawing on this polyphonic repertoire, Dirk Snellings creates unique and multi-dimensional programmes. The integration of different artistic disciplines produces programmes of additional value for today’s cultural scene. The Capilla Flamenca's transparent polyphonic sound-image originates from the creative interaction
Pressewerke für BINDER + PARTNER BERLIN: Agnes Manier, [email protected], +49 174 2985541, +49 30 798 509 33
Infos and Onlinetickets are available at www.ballhausnaunyn.de, www.bp-berlin.com and www.joannadudley.de 2/3 between the musicians. This process demands an acute awareness of the historical, poetical and technical aspects of polyphonic music. The Capilla Flamenca has won prestigious international awards such as “Il Filarmonico”, which has also been awarded to artists like Pierre Boulez, Zubin Metha and Oliver Messiaen, for both the high artistic value of their live performances and CDs and the cultural value of their musicological research. The Capilla Flamenca has formed strong ties with Joanna Dudley as a result of their cooperation on the production Foi by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Les Ballets C de la B, 2003, which won acclaim from both critics and the public. www.capilla.be
Samuel Dématraz lives and works in Switzerland. In 2005, he graduated from the ECAV Ecole cantonale d`art du Valais in Sierre, where he specialized in video and photo art. Since then he has developed numerous projects in the area of video art and worked on joint interdisciplinary projects with artists such as Ingrid Wildi, Dorothy Kreuzfeld, Jose Davilla and John Hilliard. Samuel Dématraz has presented his video clips and films, which are often characterized by mosaic-like, visual structures and a disturbingly formalistic and fragmentary vividness, in various exhibitory contexts, including the Ferm-Asile Sion 2006, the National Versicherung Basle 2006, Mulhouse 2007 and the Plattform 07 in Zurich.
Grahame Dudley studied composition in Australia with Peter Maxwell Davies and later moved to London to study conducting with Pierre Boulez. There, he became director of music at the Cockpit Experimental Arts Centre, where he created the ensemble Music Plus which included musicians such as Oliver Knussen, Simon Bainbridge and Irvine Arditti. (They performed contemporary English works and gave the first UK performances of Stockhausen, Kagel and Cage.) Since his return to Australia, where he teaches composition at the University of Adelaide, Grahame has played a major role in the development of new music ensembles, including Lights and The Elder New Music. His music theatre works and operas include The Snow Queen, which was performed this year by the Victorian State Opera, Australia. He has also been closely involved with the Montreal-based Nouvel Ensemble Modern .
The producer: The main focus of BINDER + PARTNER BERLIN’s activities under the direction of Adolphe Binder is international productions and artistic and strategic counselling. As a team of consultants it provides new concepts for artistic enterprises ranging from small avant-garde projects to large cross-genre projects and specialises in the creative support and realization of performance arts, from performance to dance and music theatre. The conceptual design of dramatic works as well as providing analysis and professional strategic and artistic advice on program planning, differentiation and support through customised communication concepts or personal coaching also belong to our area of expertise. www.bp-berlin.com.
Who Killed Cock Robin? Produced by Binder + Partner Berlin, (www.bp-berlin.com). Co-produced by Capilla Flamenca (www.capilla.be), Concertgebouw Brugge and DecemberDance07 (www.concertgebouw.be / www.decemberdance.be). With the kind support of Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin, ECAV Ecole cantonal d`arts Sierre, the Flemish Government Brugge, Ballhaus Naunynstraße and papagena Kartenvertrieb.
Ticket sales start on November 9. 20,00 / 15,00 !. Online tickets are available at www.ballhausnaunyn.de. Sale of remaining tickets at the door guaranteed.
Ballhaus Naunynstraße 27, 10997 Berlin.
Pressewerke für BINDER + PARTNER BERLIN: Agnes Manier, [email protected], +49 174 2985541, +49 30 798 509 33
Infos and Onlinetickets are available at www.ballhausnaunyn.de, www.bp-berlin.com and www.joannadudley.de