Antonio Vivaldi composed The Four Seasons 300 years ago as part of the concerto collection Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Inventione. As one of the most famous pieces of music in the world, Vivaldi's work is deeply rooted in the memory of the West and a popular ode to nature. But what does the work still say to us today? In times of climate crisis, can we still speak of four seasons at all?
The starting point for this evening is the brilliant recording by violinist Amandine Beyer, who teaches at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and her ensemble Gli Incogniti. The unmistakable signature of the celebrated choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker meets the mathematically precise choreography of Radouan Mriziga, a shooting star of international dance. The two share an interest in geometry, embodied abstraction and the observation of nature, as well as a concern for an environment exploited by humans, whose continued existence determines life on this planet. If we look at the four seasons from this perspective, the urgency of the impending climate crisis and the responsibility of art in these crisis-ridden times becomes painfully clear.
As a part of Theaterfestival Basel.
Childcare: Please register using the following form. Meeting point is half an hour before the start of each performance at the festival centre on the Kasernenareal.
Duration: 90 Minuten
Biography
Renowned far beyond Belgium and Europe, choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker studied dance in Brussels and New York and choreographed her first piece, Asch, in 1980. In 1983, she founded the Rosas company in Brussels. Since then, the group has developed groundbreaking works that are characterised by a profound exploration of the relationship between dance and music and have been performed worldwide. From 1992 to 2007, Rosas was based at the Brussels opera house La Monnaie / De Munt, where Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker staged operas and large ensemble pieces, many of which were danced by other companies around the world. In 1995, she founded P.A.R.T.S., an institution for the international training of artists, in collaboration with the Brussels Opera. The Moroccan choreographer Radouan Mriziga, who lives in Belgium, also studied there. He has already worked with De Keersmaeker on the production 3ird5 @ W9rk (2020) and is now developing Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Inventione with her.
Radouan Mriziga is a choreographer from Marrakech based in Brussels. In his works, he explores the relation between space, architecture, the body and its connection to mind and intellect and, more recently, the use of performance as a tool to produce and share knowledge about forgotten and repressed narratives. From 2017 to 2021 he was an artist-in-residence at Kaaitheater in Brussels. From 2021 to 2024, he is an artist-in-residence at De Singel, in Antwerp, Belgium. In 2023, Radouan Mriziga was invited to present his piece AKAL in framework of Culturescapes Festival 2023 Sahara at Kaserne Basel.
Credits
Choreography
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Radouan Mriziga
Created with and Danced by
Boštjan Antončič, Nassim Baddag, Lav Crnčević, José Paulo dos Santos
Music
Antonio Vivaldi, Le quattro stagioni
Amandine Beyer, Gli Incogniti
Musical Analysis
Amandine Beyer
Set and Light Design
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Radouan Mriziga
Costume Design
Aouatif Boulaich
Rehearsal Director
Eleni Ellada Damianou
Production
Rosas
Co-Production
Berliner Festspiele, Charleroi danse, centre chorégraphique de Wallonie-Bruxelles, Concertgebouw Brugge (Bruges), De Munt/La Monnaie (Brussel/Bruxelles/Brussels), Festival d'Automne à Paris, Festival de Marseille, ImPulsTanz (Wenen, Vienne, Vienna), Sadler's Wells (Londen/Londres/London), Théâtre de la Ville (Parijs/Paris)
With the support of
Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels