Bless The Sound That Saved A Witch Like Me
- Dance & performance
- +12
60 min.
Info
In September of 2020, a group of New Jersey moms decided to gather in a park and scream loudly. They felt neglected in the fight against the pandemic. The act of shouting collectively, reclaiming space in front of their own egos and sharing that need in an informal gathering seemed to be a comforting practice in these desperate times. In the wake of this first collective outcry, the New York Times installed a public hotline in hopes of serving those in need of a primal cry. One of the starting points of the research that informed this performance is the outcry as social protest by these mothers, as well as many other women in recent decades.
Often equated with rage and chaos, the outcry is criticized, condemned or censored in language and public space. It can be seen as the most intense and audible form of personal urgency towards political and public space. Whether it is filled with anger, pleasure, pain or silence, it is a powerful and highly intimate act. It provokes an instant empathy that also evokes our most common and instinctive feelings. It is a rift in time and space.
This performance is an attempt to re-appropriate this radical expression and to tame its raw and stunning material. Through a powerful physical and sonic universe, the aim is to make this vital impulse accessible as a cry of alarm in the context of the geopolitical, ideological and ecological crisis we are going through.
Concept, choreography: Benjamin Kahn
Interpretation: Sati Veyrunes
Music design: Lucia Ross
Light design and stage management: Neills Doucet
Assistant playwright: Théo Aucremanne
Outside eye: Cherish Menzo
Sound engineer: Louis Daurat
Lighting engineer: Neills Doucet or Edouard Bonnet
Costume: Carolin Herzberg
Text: Benjamin Kahn directly inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Death Grips, Darek Jerman, MAVI.
Executive production: Les Halles de Schaerbeek, Actoral Marseille
Administration, production: Léonard Degoulet
Tours, development: Sandrine Barrasso
Coproduction: Klap Maison pour la danse, Charleroi Danse, Les
Maison pour la danse, Kaiitheater , BUDA Kunstencentrum, Theater Rotterdam
The Ecosystem Festival is produced by the Sangri-La Artistic Ground Association.
Partners: UNICAT & co, Masca Theatre, CREART – Teatrelli, Metropolis Theatre, National Centre of Dance Bucharest, National University of Theatre and Cinematographic Arts “I.L. Caragiale”, Goethe Institut, Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Centre Bucharest, French Institute of Romania, Green Hours, Insula 42, Teatrul Azi – Cultural Foundation “Camil Petrescu”, ACCEPT Association, Beatrice Von Babel, RHEA Artistic Exploration Platform, ETAJ artist-run space, /SAC, The Fool, Apollo 111, OBOR AMOR, Augmented Space Agency, Legal Resources Centre, Residential Centre for the Elderly “Amalia and Chief Rabin Dr. Moses Rosen”, Băneasa Educational Centre, Children’s Club Sector 5, Urban Collectors, Kaya Holistic, Vizurești Popular Research and Documentation Centre, Bright Future Autism Centre.
Main media partners: ELLE, Happening, Observator Cultural, The Institute, Să fiți cuminți.
Co-financed by
Administration of the National Cultural Fund.
The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the grantee.
Project also co-financed by Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB within the “Bucharest 565. Urban Connections” 2024″.