Performing in a quarry
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Some quarries seem to be made for theatrical performances, including stages and places for audience. Although it is an open air venue the sound and light are mysterious as you are at least 10m and in some cases 70 m below the surface.
We did several informal try outs with more than satisfying results. But to organize a formal public event in a quarry is not easy because of safety and logistics. Ruth Baettig, Beate Schnaithmann and Giuseppe di Salvatore were working on a long-term project: “Ich habe mich verloren”. The idea is that losing yourself can be a starting point, an opportunity to find yourself in a reality previously unknown. The risk of getting lost is a chance to really be there on earth. The project also considers what in the Anthropocene are the links are between humans, animals, vegetation and non-living matter.
Their joint residency was a burst of creativity. An obvious highlight was a performance 50 meters deep in an abandoned marble quarry, in the light of the full moon. While Ruth, dressed in a black “skin”, was making minimal movements, Beate was improvising on “La Folia”, a motive from the Baroque period. This slide show gives a first impression. Soon a video compilation will be published. Once we initiated and co-produced a very ambitious and successful theatre production: Divina Commedia 2.0. See below for an impression. More information is on the page divina commedia.
Students of Margo Kalse (Holland) did sing to experience the unique acoustics, as did the students of António Carrilho (Portugal) in his Master class recorder.
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