Théâtre National de Bretagne
Direction Arthur Nauzyciel
Duration 1h30
Creation 18/19 Season
On Tour 18/19 and 19/20 Seasons
Session is a new collaboration between choreographers Colin Dunne and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Drawing upon the rhythmical and sonic aspects of Dunne's traditional Irish dance, these two incredibly diverse performers discover their relational possibilities through an exploration of sound. In Session, the lines between movement and music, seeing and listening become a source of play, creating new modes of sound-making from the graceful to the absurd. Dunne and Cherkaoui are joined onstage by composer Michael Gallen and musician Soumik Datta. Gallen's score draws upon a diversity of sonic and musical sources, threading the melodic eccentricities of percussive dance, timbral noise and sean-nós ornamentation into a larger soundworld that includes overlapping pianos and strings, electroacoustic textures and polyphonic choral performance.
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ABOUT...
Colin Dunne is a leading figure in the world of traditional Irish dance. Perhaps best known internationally for his performances and choreography in Riverdance and Dancing on Dangerous Ground, he has been working as an independent performer, maker and teacher since 2001. Dunne’s unique approach to Irish step-dance first came to the attention of contemporary dance audiences after his first solo show, Out of Time, premiered in Ireland in 2008. Other notable collaborations/performances include: The Bull (Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre/Michael Keegan Dolan), 35 pas à la seconde (Rocio Molina), The Turn (Irish Chamber Orchestra/Linda Buckley), 20 Dancers for the xx century (Boris Charmatz/Musée de la danse), What is Ours (eRikm)...
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui created his early work with the collective Les Ballets C. de la B. – Rien de rien (2000), Foi (2003)… Next he collaborated on various projects such as D’avant (2002) with the Sasha Waltz Company and Zero Degrees (2005) with Akram Khan. Over the years he has worked for numerous theaters and operas. In 2011, he created the duo Play with Shantala Shivalingappa in collaboration with Arthur Nauzyciel. He also created TeZukA, based on the work of the Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka. In 2012, he created Puz/zle for 11 dancers and the Coriscan singing group d’A Filetta. In 2013, he staged Boléro for the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris. In 2015, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Ballet Royal de Flandres, where he created Fall (2015), Exhibition (2016) and Requiem (2017). Throughout his work, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui sculpts gestures, combining fluidness and poetry, with roots in the East and West.
Duration 1h30
Choreography & directed
COLIN DUNNE
SIDI LARBI CHERKAOUI
Music
MICHAEL GALLEN
Set design
FILIP PEETERS
Lighting design
MARK VAN DENESSE
Sound design
MICHAEL GALLEN
JEF VERBEECK
Additional music composition
SOUMIK DATTA
COLIN DUNNE
SIDI LARBI CHERKAOUI
Artistic consultants
ARTHUR NAUZYCIEL
AN-MARIE LAMBRECHTS
Assistant choreographer
LAURA MURPHY
Implementation set
MARTIN BAARDA
Costume advice & dresser
CAROLINE WITTEMANS
Technicians
MATHIAS BATSLEER
JANNEKE HERTOGHS
Production / tour manager
ARNOUT ANDRÉ DE LA PORTE
LARS BOOT
HUGH ROCHE KELLY
Produced by Eastman, Once Off Productions & Théâtre National de Bretagne.
Co-commissioned by Dublin Dance Festival, Abbey Theatre, Sibiu International Theatre Festival, Julidans (Amsterdam), Grand Theatre Groningen/Noorderzon Festival, MC93 - scène nationale de Seine-Saint-Denis (Bobigny), Torinodanza Festival, Teatro Stabile di Torino-Teatro Nazionale, deSingel International Arts Campus (Antwerp), Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, Sadler’s Wells (London), Tanz Köln
With the support of the BNP Paribas Foundation, the Flemish Government, the Belgian Federal Government’s Tax Shelter programme and the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
Eastman is resident at deSingel International Arts Campus, Antwerp.
Thanks to Stephen Collins and Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern