FORMS
A double bill of choreographies by Douglas Lee and Gaj Žmavc
Callisto
Callisto is an abstract dance piece for nine dancers. Inspired by ideas, dreams and visions of the sea, the dance reverberates with its different movements and properties.
Callisto is one of Jupiter’s moons. It was discovered by Galileo Galilei and named after a nymph from the Greek Myth who was a spirit of nature. It is believed to have a secret sea hidden under its outer solid layer. Thus, the ballet aims to combine the imagery of water, and the spirit of the sea, and to project it onto the futuristic landscape in a world once shrouded in mystery.
The audience is transported to the icy expanses of Callisto where the surface ripples with the ebb and flow of an enigmatic population. The dancers embody the very essence of water and the alien rituals of these other worldly population. Their movements are sometimes fluid, mirroring the undulating currents of the sea, but they are also dynamic, reflecting the machinations of the electronic score. The piece explores the theme of ceremony and custom through the rituals and interconnectedness of life.
The score, “Hydræia,” crafted with a blend of vintage analogue synthesizers and modern digital processing, illuminates the vast waters of Callisto, with waves of boundless reverb.
Douglas Lee
The bittersweet paragraphs of existence
Dance is an extension of our soul, a voice of the heart. I think we hardly ever stop dancing. It is a question of being. The unequivocal reality of passing time is profoundly bound to our profession. But once touched by this beautiful art, the magic never seems to fade away.
The bittersweet paragraphs of existence unveils a poetic dancescape that can be perceived as a retrospective window through which we can observe, from a distance, a series of intimate human portrayals. The work subtly touches on the themes of time and the impermanence of all things, exposing the beauty, power, and fragility of the moment’s elusive nature.
This new ballet is set to my new score for chamber orchestra, solo violin and solo cello.
Gaj Žmavc
