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inaudible

Thomas Hauert

Six dancers plunge into an impish game where they follow the dictates of a quirky musical score, giving shape to its tiniest details and thus rendering the inaudible visible.

Details

The king is dead and the court jesters are dancing to a loud concerto. The rules underlying their frolics? Miming the slightest notes, accents, rhythms and false notes in the music, even if it means dancing upside down. By giving shape to the « music » of their idiosyncratic, parallel score, they allow the spectator to hear the inaudible.

With this surprising piece, the Swiss choreographer Thomas Hauert takes his inspiration from « mickey-mousing », a film technique where each element of the soundtrack emphasizes the action on screen. Here that technique is turned upside down, creating an extravagant choreography where each movement is generated by a sound. The six performers embody the colourful, spirited jazz of George Gershwin, presenting it in contrast to the dark, grotesque sound designs of contemporary composer Mauro Lanza. In an adroit mélange of mastery and improvisation, the dancers make child’s play of the compositions, constantly confounding the expectations of the audience. A disconcerting tour de force that is loads of fun – a true delight!

Credits

Produced by ZOO/Thomas Hauert
Concept and direction Thomas Hauert
Created and performed by Fabian Barba + Thomas Hauert + Liz Kinoshita + Sarah Ludi (replacing Albert Quesada) + Gabriel Schenker + Mat Voorter
Original music George Gershwin + Mauro Lanza
Music collage Thomas Hauert
Lighting design Bert Van Dijck
Costume design Chevalier-Masson
Collaborator to music informatics (IRCAM) Martin Antiphon
Sound design Bart Celis

Co-produced by Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels) + Charleroi Danses – Centre chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles + La Bâtie – Festival de Genève + PACT Zollverein (Essen) + CDC Atelier de Paris-Carolyn Carlson + IRCAM – Centre Pompidou (Paris) + Théâtre Sévelin 36 (Lausanne) + Centre chorégraphique national de Rillieux-la-Pape – direction Yuval Pick
With the support of Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles – Service de la danse + Pro Helvetia – Fondation suisse pour la culture (Zurich) + Loterie Nationale + Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie + Ein Kulturengagement des Lotterie – Fonds des Kantons Solothurn + Wallonie-Bruxelles International + Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre / Danse – Studio Charleroi Danses / La Raffinerie (Brussels) + Grand Studio (Brussels) + Centre chorégraphique national de Rillieux-la-Pape – direction Yuval Pick

Written by Mylène Joly
Translated by Neil Kroetsch

Premiered at Programme commun, Lausanne, on March 18, 2016