Apocrifu Dance-Theatre Performance at the Brighton Festival

Apocrifu  (Apocrypha) 

Dance-Theatre Performance at the Brighton Festival

Hurling books,

Walking on books,

Blinded by books,

Battered by books.

  

The divisive power of words  -- that is the message of Apocrifu, a dance-theatre piece by Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

According to the program Cherkaoui “thinks of himself as a choreographer of religious dances.  For him the word ‘religious’ implies community, the idea of ‘joining together’.” “Words and ideologies may divide us, but ‘there is one language that we have in common, and that is rhythm.’”

Cross-cultural collaborations figure in most of his works.   Tonight’s choreography combines modern and kathak dance, and Noh puppet theatre, with touches of flamenco, hip hop, and ballet. 

The three male dancers are accompanied by an all-male Corsican vocal ensemble.  The chamber choir assumes various positions on stage – singing from a platform above the dancers, the rear of the stage, and the sides.  Their unaccompanied polyphony melds extensive drones and north African rhythms and vocal timbres with Italianate harmonies.  It hints of medieval organum. 

At the end books turn into swords. 

The choreographer carries a martyred comrade up a steep staircase and leaps Tosca-like into the dark.

May 18, 2011