A short (max 20-minute) version of “Cacophony for 8 Players” will be performed at the Northwest New Works Festival at On The Boards in Seattle, June 16 and 17, 2012.
We are currently raising money through Kickstarter to cover the cost of performer and visual artist fees, costumes, and sound technology.
Drawing upon historical forms and ideas from theater, dance and music, “Cacophony for 8 Players” explores collisions in time and space of divergent artistic elements and inspirations. Eight voices of the past will press against each other through the flux of dissonance and possible concordances, weaving fragments of dance, music and textural audio into an enriching backdrop for a new voice (a peaceful ninth) to emerge.
Applying key texts written by eight prominent figures of the performative arts — Bharata Muni, Abhinavagupta, August Bournonville, Vaslav Nijinsky, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Maya Deren and Pina Bausch — the work is built upon a desire to honor ideas of history, in a meeting open to both confluence and rebellion, in a structure both deliberate and improvisational.
Joining Ulrich and Graczyk are celebrated dance artists Allie Hankins and Peggy Piacenza. The four dancers will interplay with four movable body sculptures, clothed in perforated gut-skin, pointing to the past, still vivid yet deteriorating. While still giving space to solo forms, this collective structure will then reflect divergent textures and energies, ricocheting and meshing like the figures of history.
“Cacophony for 8 Players” will begin with a recorded overture composed by Baldoz and featuring Tari Nelson-Zagar on violin. In addition, Baldoz will perform live on bass guitar, trumpet, flutes, voice and electronics, dynamically interacting with the dancers as well as with the sculptures, which will emanate audio recordings of the historical text-fragments, interpreted by Baldoz, triggered through independent speakers inside the four sculptures.
The sculptures* are being created by Portland-based visual artists Steven Berardelli and Micki Skudlarczyk. Lighting design will be by Amiya Brown, and costumes by Mark Ferrin.
* Special thank you to Gertrud Parker for early inspiration for the sets.
