Khoom

The origin of this work is the disturbing composition by Giacinto Scelsi, "Seven episodes of an unwritten tale of love and death in a distant land". Three dancers, a singer and six musicians lead us on a journey where gesture accompanies even the most intimate vibration within the music and where the space, swept by the dance, reflects the depth of Scelsi’s most particular sounds.

For Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) music is first and foremost a question of sound: “premier mouvement de l’immobile – the first movement of the still,” is sound comprised not just of pitch and duration, but also of depth.

Under the direction of Jean-Paul Dessy, the soprano Elise Gäbele and the musicians of Musiques Nouvelles, envelope the circular movements of dancers Odile Gheysens, Frauke Mariën and Shantala Pèpe. Suspended by ropes, in a space expanded by video projections evoking archaic, primeval creatures, they don’t stray far from the music.

It was through Oliver Farge’s aerial dance technique that our desire to transcend weight and come together with the sound vibrations could be realized. Over and beyond technique, a real sensitivity was awakened.

Everything is swathed in the same layer of sound, rolled in the curves of the voice, stung by the vibration of the ropes, sliced by the percussion.