D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER 2022
Cherish Menzo
& GRIP & Frascati Producties
© Yaqine Hamzaoui & Yema Gieskes
Body can you become hypothetical, a galaxy, in full gear acceleration, a liquid star monster, failing to die?
In her new creation, Cherish Menzo and her onstage partner Camilo Mejía Cortés look for ways to detach their bodies from the way they are perceived and the daily reality in which they move. Among other things, they look up to the sky, at dark matter and at black holes that meet and collide to give birth to a new, (afro)futuristic and enigmatic body. DARKMATTER wants to get rid of the biased way of looking at one’s own body, at that of the other, and at the stories we attribute to them. Together, they throw their bodies into a complex conversation that they want to both enter into and transcend – a duality that feeds the performance.
Just as in her previous project, JEZEBEL, Menzo stretches her movement language further by applying the the Chopped and Screwed method to her movement language. A remix technique from hip-hop music in which the tempo is sharply reduced. By stretching the notions of time, the register changes and the performing body manages to generate new readings.
Parallel to the performance there will be Distorted Rap Choir trajectory. At each location, a dozen local people of colour are invited to take part in lab-workshops working on themes from DARKMATTER. At the end of the lab-workshop the choir will record a rap anthem, which will be integrated into the performance. On every location a new choir and therefore also an extra layer will be added.
DARKMATTER wants to create a thorough reshuffle of our atoms, looking for a new form for – and way of looking at – our body and the complex outside world to which it relates.
The different choirs can be seen and heard on www.distortedrapchoir.com
Music and text credits via >this link<
credits
PREMIERE: May 12-15, Kunstenfestivaldesarts/Beursschouwburg (Brussels, BE)
CONCEPT AND CHOREOGRAPHY: Cherish Menzo
CREATION AND PERFORMANCE: Cherish Menzo, Camilo Mejía Cortés
LIGHTING DESIGN: Niels Runderkamp
MUSICAL COMPOSITION: Gagi Petrovic, Michael Nunes
MASTERING: Gagi Petrovic
MUSIC LIST: bit.ly/dm-musiccredits
SCENOGRAPHY: Morgana Machado Marques
COSTUME DESIGN: JustTatty.com
DRAMATURGY: Renée Copraij, Benjamin Kahn
TEXT: Cherish Menzo, Camilo Mejía Cortés, BOИSU, Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong
VOCAL AND DELIVERY COACHING: BOИSU, Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong
ARTISTIC ADVICE: Christian Yav, Nicole Geertruida
VOICES DISTORTED RAP CHOIR: via www.distortedrapchoir.com
TECHNICIANS: Niels Runderkamp and Amber Stallenberg/Nele Verreyken
PRODUCTION: GRIP, Frascati Producties
COPRODUCTION: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, BE), CCN-Ballet national de Marseille dans le cadre de l’accueil studio / Ministère de la Culture (FR), actoral festival (Marseille, FR), STUK (Leuven, BE), La Villette, Paris (FR), Beursschouwburg (Brussels, BE), Festival d’Automne à Paris (FR), De Coproducers (NL), Perpodium (BE)
RESIDENCIES: STUK (Leuven, BE), La Villette, Paris (FR), Frascati (Amsterdam, NL), Beursschouwburg (Brussels, BE), CCN-Ballet national de Marseille dans le cadre de l’accueil studio / Ministère de la Culture (FR), Productiehuis Theater Rotterdam (NL)
IN COLLABORATION WITH: Trill (Leuven, BE), WijzijnDOX (Utrecht, NL)
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: the Flemish Government, The Performing Arts Fund NL, Ammodo, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, Cronos Invest
THANKS TO: Eric Cyuzuzo, Jan Fedinger, Dries Douibi