“Cherkaoui mixes acrobatics, Oriental martial arts, ballet jazz and modern dance in a cocktail of amusing, disconcerting and stupefying images. Madness, emotionality and profundity are woven into the music and dance. It is this miracle that is the real message of the work.” (Le Quotidien flamand, Brussels)

Fans of the divinely eclectic Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Foi, 2003) will be transported by Myth, a work commissioned by Toneelhuis of Antwerp, Belgium. Created in June 2007, Myth can be seen as a rite of passage, a race against the shadows for 14 actor-dancers and 7 musicians from the group Micrologus. With a monumental set (library/waiting room), multiple vanishing points, Italian and Arab-Andalusian chant from the 12th century, Myth juggles styles and symbols to reach the universal. Much sought-after by the world’s major artistic institutions, Cherkaoui is “a master at making dazzlingly inventive connections, turning basemetal choreographic ingredients to gold, and generally sending the conceptual sparks flying.” (The Observer, London)

Born in 1976 in the suburbs of Antwerp to a Belgian mother and Moroccan father, Sidi Larbi Cherkoui is an artist unlike any other. The choreographer melds approaches and traditions, refusing all hierarchies in his modes of expression. What interests him above all are “contact points.” His highly personal work deals with the notion of equality – among individuals, cultures and languages. Setting it apart from other dance is its use of chant, and its predilection for mediaeval music. “Through the musicality of his works […] he reaches the spiritual, sacred dimension of art” (Guy Cools, Sidi Larbi Cherkoui, Le Mouvement polyphonique).

Detailed version

Duration: 120 minutes

www.toneelhuis.be

Credits
Myth
Choreography: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Musical direction: Patrizia Bovi
Assistance choreography: Nienke Reehorst
Dramaturgy: Guy Cools
Performance/Choreography: Alexandra Gilbert, Damien Jalet, Darryl E. Woods, Ulrika Kinn Sevensson, Iris Bouche, Peter Jasko, Sri Louise, James O’Hara, Ann Dockx, Marc Wagemans, Milan Herich, Christine Leboutte, Damien Fournier, Satoshi Kudo
Live musicians: Ensemble Micrologus: Mauro Borgioni, Patrizia Bovi, Goffredo Degli Esposti, Gabriele Miracle, Gabriele Russo, Simone Sorini, Leah Stuttard
Scenography: Wim Van de Cappelle, Sidi larbi Cherkaoui
Technical assistance: Serge Vandenhove
Costume design: Isabelle Lhoas, Frederic Denis
Assistant costume design: Stéphanie Croibien
Light design: Luc Schaltin
Technical crew: Sanne Roels, Paul Van Caudenberg, Patrick ‘Sharp’ Vanderhaegen, Lucas Van Haesbroeck
Production & tour manager: Mien Muys
Assistance production manager: Nathalie Schrauwen
(Hair)Dresser: Elisabeth Kinn Svensson
Promotion and diffusion: Frans Brood Productions – www.fransbrood.com
Text advice: Erwin Jans, Joel Kerouanton, An-Marie Lambrechts
Production: Toneelhuis Antwerpen (BE)
Coproduction:
deSingel Antwerp (BE)
Théâtre de la Ville Paris (FR)
National Art Center Ottawa (CDN)
Concertgebouw Bruges (BE)
Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg (L)
Sadler’s Wells London (GB)
Fondazione Musica per Roma (IT)
Theater Im Pfalzbau Ludwigshafen (DE)
Thanks to:
Members of Toneelhuis and deSingel
Theater Stap
Rosas
NTGent
Gilles Delmas
Lise Uytterhoeven
Lou Cope
Krystel Khoury
Griet Van Laer
Jung
Catherine Mobihan

Photos: Koen Broos

March 2008

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