Emanuel Gat is a welcome guest at deSingel and deservedly so. With his choreography 'Act II & III or the Unexpected Return of Heaven and Earth', a hauntingly beautiful and intriguing performance, he stood on the stage of the international arts centre for three days in a row. A monumental and thrilling performance: music, dance and lighting form a complete, coherent whole.
Mise en scène
The audience sees a dark stage with a large iron circle hanging above and four tall rectangular windows along Côte cour.
As a soundscape, choreographer Emanuel Gat worked with the last two acts of Puccini's Tosca, dramatic tormented scenes. He chose a 1965 recording with diva Maria Callas in one of her signature roles, plus the voices of Carlo Bergonzi (Carvadossi) and Tito Gobbi (Scarpia). A choreography that does not attempt to illustrate what is happening dramaturgically. The rhythm of the music is the source of movement, not the content. The dance language is abstract and yet again not.
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Emanuel Gat divided the second act into eleven parts so that his eleven dancers can each perform a unique solo. On the timeless waves of the vocal/instrumental music, they are given the freedom to perform their individual dance language. In diffuse lighting, the dancers step onto the stage one by one, naked. Yet it is never shocking. The sidelighting creates sharply defined silhouettes and a beautiful delineation of the sinewy bodies. In the dark space, the bodies appear shaded; light and dark surfaces are created through movement. The light-dark contrasts evoke images of Caravaggio. The movement language is fluid and flexible in a multidimensionality. There is much groundwork to be seen, sometimes frozen poses. In other movements there is something animal-like. Music is a difficult to explain force that carries performers and audience along in a hypnotic universe. The solos of men and women string together like a necklace in ever-changing waves of sounds, forms and technical refinement.
Division
While the soloists emerge from the darkness and disappear back into it, the last soloist leaves the stage in a warm light ray. This opens a new perspective. All the separate pieces are spliced together in part two. The purity and authenticity of the solos is transposed into ensemble work in various fascinating configurations. One by one, the dancers come onto the stage, this time clothed. The men in dark trousers and bare torso, the women in a softly flowing blue dress. They burst onto the stage as if driven out from the womb, the vulva.
The choreography unfolds in a harmonious interplay in a multitude of expressions; the smallest details matter. Alongside individuality, it is also a celebration of togetherness. The emphasis shifts from solos to ensemble work, trios and duets with a particularly beautiful, slowly spun out and tender duet between two men.
At a certain point, the action comes to a standstill. The dancers sit down or hang out standing together. A particularly clever lighting design: golden and intense in warm scenes and white, cold and bleak when the mood heralds a new phase. Harmony must give way to a splintered society. There is a nice scuffle. At first playful, but then it becomes grimmer. A bitter fight ensues. The protagonists drag each other across the stage. In a both musically and visually impressive final chord, the performance ends.
'Act II & III or the Unexpected Return of Heaven and Earth', a fascinating breathtaking performance to the dramatic, pulsing music of Puccini. The creative power of Emanuel Gat is impressive.
- WHAT: Act II & III or the Unexpected Return of Heaven and Earth
- WHO: Emanuel Gat Dance
- WHERE: deSingel - Antwerp
- WHEN: Friday 11 November '22