Some, if not most of you, may never have been subjected to an hour long piece by infamous composer John Cage, he of the Merce Cunningham collaboration.
Well, we, here in TheLab™, went through that experience this past Tuesday with a performance of ‘Empty Moves [Parts I & II] from Ballet Preljocaj. Check it out for yourself above and all we shall say is this. Mr Cage is certainly an experience to remember, especially when you counter point it with movement from Angelin Preljocaj.
We managed to film some of this work in rehearsal when the soundtrack was not being used. It’s amazing how different it looks when you see it in silence.
The company say this much about the work;
‘Empty moves is composed of actions and movements inspired by the words and phonemes read by John Cage at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, recorded live on December 2. 1977. The notion of the alienation effect, of the disintegration of the movement and of a new manner of choreographic phrasing takes precedence over their meaning and essence. Through these means this dance work connects with the text by Henry David Thoreau which was John Cage’s starting point, and attempts to reach the unflappable pugnacity of the mastermind behind that evening in Milan.’
This work no longer tours but you can garner more information from the company’s website.
‘Empty Moves’ is performed Gaëlle Chappaz, Fabrizio Clemente, Julien Thibault & Yurie Tsugawa with choreography by Angelin Preljocaj.
Performance filmed at Dansens Hus, Oslo, Norway on October 11th 2011. Video brought to you with the support, in part, of Arts Council England and Coda Oslo Dance Festival.