Liturgie
Produced by Spectra Ensemble
8:05pm – 8:55pm | Tuesday 25 July 2017
Robin Howard Dance Theatre, The Place, 17 Duke’s Rd, London, WC1H 9PY
Liturgie, an unfinished ballet-opera of Ballets Russes impresario Sergei Diaghilev, choreographer Léonid Massine, artist Natalia Goncharova and composer Igor Stravinsky, was developed in 1915 while the company reconvened amid the chaos of World War I.
Conceived as a staging of the Orthodox rite and life of Christ, the most compelling part of Liturgie’s history is the fact that significant work in design and dance took place before any music was composed. Despite its dependence on tempo and rhythm, thirty-two choreography rehearsals went ahead and are documented in photographs and notebooks. With their angularity, flatness and Byzantine-inspired gestures, Goncharova’s designs of biblical figures make a provocative statement as costume designs: planes suppressed the fluid movement of the performer’s body. The premise of a costume design that works against the performing body suggests that restriction formed the conceptual basis of the choreography. Far outweighing the literary, musical and choreographic fragments, Goncharova’s designs appear to have been generative, inspiring – rather than inspired by – the literary and musical score. It does not seem, however, that the musical component was intended to be left until last, not least because Diaghilev’s relocation to Ouchy – in neutral and geographically-central Switzerland – appears to have been with a view to working closely with Stravinsky who was based nearby at Morges. Too preoccupied with Les noces, however, Stravinsky never even began writing Liturgie’s musical score.
Tantalizingly scattered and unevenly distributed, Liturgie’s archive outlines a particular collaborative model, one of conceiving many media at roughly the same time, messily adding contributions from each collaborator over a loose and fractured timeframe. Intrigued by this creative possibility, Spectra Ensemble’s performance has been inspired by the innovative mode of collaboration.
Liturgie from Tête à Tête #2 on Vimeo.
Music: Daniel Lee Chappell
Words: Biblical texts
Director: Cecilia Stinton
Musical Director: Oliver Till
Choreographer: Camille Jetzer
Set Designer: Holly Muir
Costume Designer: Clare McGarrigle
Producer: Jessie Anand
Performed by:
Camille Jetzer, Mary Sol, Martin del Castillo, Fran Mangiacasale Kudakwashe, James Mushava, Claire Smith, Feilciana Robles Acosta, Ed Addison, Ivan Isakov, Emily Everest-Phillips, Anna Zanetti, Mengting Zhou, Riona Hymns
Sopranos: Fiona Hymns(solo), Letitia Perry, Aimee Presswood,
Altos: Rachel Maby, Rosie Middleton
Tenors: Pete Martin, Matt Pope
Basses: Timothy Edlin, Henry Page
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Also on Tuesday 25 July 2017…
6:00pm : ID, Please Pre-Performance Talk
7:00pm – 7:45pm : Dr Ferret’s Bad Medicine Roadshow
9:15pm – 9:55pm : ID, Please
Listen Now: Road Memoir: The Podcast Opera
Music: Daniel Lee Chappell Words: Biblical texts
Director: Cecilia Stinton
Musical Director: Oliver Till
Choreographer: Camille Jetzer
Set Designer: Holly Muir
Costume Designer: Clare McGarrigle
Producer: Jessie Anand
Performed by:
Camille Jetzer, Mary Sol, Martin del Castillo, Fran Mangiacasale Kudakwashe, James Mushava, Claire Smith, Feilciana Robles Acosta, Ed Addison, Ivan Isakov, Emily Everest-Phillips, Anna Zanetti, Mengting Zhou, Riona Hymns
Sopranos: Fiona Hymns(solo), Letitia Perry, Aimee Presswood,
Altos: Rachel Maby, Rosie Middleton
Tenors: Pete Martin, Matt Pope
Basses: Timothy Edlin, Henry Page
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Daniel Lee Chappell
Salford-born composer and pianist Daniel Lee Chappell recently graduated from the Royal College of Music, where he gained an MMus in Composition under Kenneth Hesketh, supported by the Robert Mcfadzean Whyte scholarship. His output spans instrumental, vocal, electroacoustic, opera and ballet works for Psappha, Helios, and BBC Singers amongst others.
www.soundcloud.com/daniel-lee-chappell
Cecilia Stinton
Cecilia holds a BA in Music and an MSt in History of Art from Oxford University, and is currently reading for an AHRC-funded PhD in History of Art at University College London. She worked for two years at the Ashmolean Museum programming large-scale participatory events, and has since gained experience directing opera with Helios Collective and Oxford Opera, as well as assisting at Opera Holland Park, Garsington Opera and British Youth Opera.
Oliver Till
Oliver is a conductor and repetiteur who specialises in contemporary music. Recent engagements include premieres of works by Janáček and Schoenberg with the Asyla Ensemble, Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni with St Paul’s Opera, and continuo for The Marriage of Figaro at Grimeborn, as well as accompanying recitals and running choral workshops.
Holly Muir
Holly is a designer and artist who recently graduated from Oxford University’s Ruskin School of Art, after which her work was exhibited in the Woon Foundation Prize for talented graduating artists. She has worked in the prop and scenic departments of Scottish Opera, the Royal Opera House, the RSC and Pinewood Creative. In addition to designing The Yellow Sound and Collision with Spectra Ensemble, Holly’s previous stage design credits include Berenice (The Space), Semi-Monde (Oxford Playhouse) and Our Country’s Good (O’Reilly Theatre, Oxford).
Clare McGarrigle
Clare studied Embroidery at Manchester Metropolitan University. After working as a costume maker for Stratford Theatre Royal, the Royal Court Theatre, Nuffield Theatre and London School of Samba, she went on to complete an MA in Costume Design for Performance at London College of Fashion, and has since designed and made costumes for the City of London Festival, Extant Theatre, IJAD Dance, SKADooSH Dance and Lola Maury, as well as exhibiting her work extensively.
Jessie Anand
Jessie works in the Development Department of the National Theatre and as a freelance producer. Recent productions include Found and Lost, an opera installation by Emily Hall at the Corinthia Hotel London, and the UK tour of Licensed To Ill, a new piece of gig-theatre about the Beastie Boys. Jessie studied History at the University of Cambridge and subsequently King’s College London, specialising in modern cultural history.
Camille Jetzer
Camille has been a choreographer and performer for Spectra Ensemble since 2015. In London, she founded Dis|Connect Dance, a collective through which she works on interdisciplinary projects. She is currently working with the China Exchange London on developing a performance linking calligraphy and contemporary dance.
Marlene Hell
Marlene trained in Austria at the Dance Arts School Vienna. She moved to London in 2012 where she attended the BalletBoyz dancers’ course. Recently Marlene has been creating her own dance projects with Dark Island Dance and has taken part in various dance theatre performances with Vintage Rambert and Punchdrunk.
Mary Sol Martin del Castillo
Mary Sol trained at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Danza in Granada and continued with a degree in pedagogy of dance. In London she has performed at Rich Mix for the Barbican Open Lab Showcase (Rewild) and with FARM 2017. She is currently enlisted for the MA programme with EDge performance company at The Place.
Fran Mangiacasale
Fran has danced for Lindsay Kemp Company, National Dance Company of Wales, Fabulous Beast, Royal Opera House and ENO. In 2013 he was also assistant choreographer and guest soloist with the Azerbaijan State Ballet. As a choreographer Fran has created work for Toos Foundation, Opera Fabula and the London Ballet Company.
Kudakwashe James Mushava
Kuda trained as a rugby player and is now a practising solicitor. Alongside his office life, Kuda has always been a keen dancer; Liturgie is his contemporary dance debut.
Claire Smith
Claire is a South African-born music and dance teacher with a background in contemporary, jazz and physical theatre.
Feliciana Robles Acosta
Feliciana’s passion for dance began when folk dancing with her parents. She trained at the Brit School for Performing Arts and has a BA in dance and choreography from Northumbria University. Currently she is a dance instructor but loves to find time to dance and express movement with others.
Ed Addison
Ed began dancing at SLP College Leeds. During his time at the University of Oxford he choreographed for the university’s dance troupe and for musical theatre productions at Oxford Playhouse. Continuing his career in London, he choreographed Life According to Saki (Edinburgh Fringe / New York 2017), and has debuted as a drag queen, performing at Pride 2017.
Ivan Isakov
A physicist by education, Ivan explored movement when working for theatre company Mr Pejo’s Wandering Dolls in St. Petersburg and later in London for Story of a Night Pianist by Anna Buonomo. He trained in Capoeira for four years and is a composer and music arranger.
Emily Everest-Philips
Emily is a recent graduate from the University of Oxford. She studied ballet from a young age at the West London School of Dance. She has choreographed physical theatre for productions including the 2016 OUDS Japan Shakespeare Tour, and co-choreographed contemporary dance productions as part of the production company Quicksandance.
Anna Zanetti
Anna started dancing in Italy, where she gained experience in contemporary and contact improvisation. During her time at Oxford University, she performed in theatre productions such as Serata Futurista! and Spectra Ensemble’s Der Gelbe Klang. Now in London she continues to be involved in artistic projects.
Mengting Zhou
Mengting Zhuo is a Chinese performance maker based in London. She received her MA in Performance Making from Goldsmiths, University of London. As a performer and director, she has made work for theatres, galleries and other spaces, including bars and residential flats.
Fiona Hymns
Fiona Hymns completed her MMus at the RNCM, following a BA in History from Royal Holloway. Notable roles include Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni, Hampstead Garden), Terinka (Cover, The Jacobin, Buxton), Amore (Cover, Orfeo ed Euridice, Buxton), Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore, Pint-Sized) and Lidochka (Moscow, Cheryomushki, RNCM). Solo experience includes a recent Handel House programme alongside the Amadè Players, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream under Gianluca Marchiano, Al-Bustan Festival (Lebanon), and Verdi’s Requiem.
Letitia Perry
Letitia Perry studied on the Opera course at the RWCMD with Suzanne Murphy. As a soloist she has sung at venues including St. John’s Smith Square and the Royal Festival Hall. Opera appearances include Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), Violetta (La traviata), Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring), Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi). Concert highlights include Poulenc’s Gloria, Brahm’s Requiem and Haydn’s Nelson Mass.
Aimee Presswood
Aimee will soon complete her Master’s in vocal performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, where she won the Roy Pleasance Competition and English Song Prize, and was joint winner of the Elisabeth Schumann Lieder Prize. Prior to this she gained a Music Degree at the University of Manchester.
Rachel Maby
Rachel is a mezzo-soprano from London who trained on the joint course at the University of Manchester and Royal Northern College of Music. Her previous performances at the Tête à Tête Festival include Sideshow’s one-woman opera-ballet by Leo Geyer with Constella OperaBallet. Other performance engagements can be found on www.rachelmaby.com
Rosie Middleton
Mezzo-soprano Rosie trained at the RNCM and specialises in contemporary music. Recent work includes Michael Betteridge’s The Echo Chamber with Icelandic Opera and A Certain Sense of Order with Catherine Kontz and Tick Tock Performance. This summer she will play Mad Hatter in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Opera Holland Park, and Third Lady in The Magic Flute for OperaUpClose.
Pete Martin
Since completing his BA (Hons) in Music, Peter works as a freelance musician teaching, performing and accompanying. He is a Lay Clerk at St Albans Cathedral, and runs a number of choirs around Hertfordshire. Peter is looking forward to studying for his Master’s at the Royal College of Music in September.
Matt Pope
Matt is a music graduate of the University of Manchester, where he sang in six choirs, and performed three operas and several premieres of contemporary works. Now Matt sings with Manchester-established choirs Kantos and Icosa, as well as with the local Thame Chamber Choir.
Timothy Edlin
Timothy has recently completed his MMus in vocal studies at the Royal College of Music and will next year continue his studies there, on their International Opera Course. He is currently studying under the tutelage of Russell Smythe and Caroline Dowdle. He is generously supported in his studies as a Janet & Michael Levesley Scholar.
Henry Page
Henry is a singer, teacher, composer, and Music graduate of Manchester University. Engagements include solo operatic roles at the Spirit of Manchester and Harrogate International Gilbert and Sullivan Festivals, alongside choral work with Philharmonia Voices, VOCE and Mousai Singers. His compositions have been performed across the UK, and received national awards.
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