Artists : Bára Gísladóttir, Margrét Bjarnadóttir & Scenatet
Photo: Caroline Bittencourt
World premiere
[ music theatre ]
Time : 16. May • 21:30 - 22:30
Location : Den Rå Hal, Godsbanen, Karen Wegeners Gade 8, 8000 Aarhus
Info
An interdisciplinary work for eight performers – two dancers, two singers, two flautists, two percussionists, and electronics – created by composer Bára Gísladóttir, choreographer Margrét Bjarnadóttir, and Scenatet. The poetic title is rooted in a scientific truth, as cooler stars do indeed glow red, while hotter stars shine blue. This performance explores the deep connection between our inner lives and the vast, ever-changing elements of the universe that surrounds us. Through a series of shifting constellations, both literal and figurative, the performers embody and sound out the dynamic interplay between personal existence and cosmic forces. With a blend of movement, sound and rhythm, the piece reflects the constant flux in both the physical and emotional worlds.
The audience is invited to enter an abstract atmosphere where the experience takes precedence over a linear narrative. Text is used sporadically, varying from fragments to longer lyrical sequences, drawing on everything from poems by the author Jon Fosse to scientific articles that presents objective facts.
Cooler Stars Glow Red is initiated, commissioned and produced by Scenatet with SPOR festival and Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival as co.-production partners.
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Bára Gísladóttir is a composer and double bassist based in Copenhagen. Her work is generally based on thoughts regarding the approach and concept of sound as a living being. Her music has been performed by ensembles and orchestras such as Collectif Love Music, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Distractfold, Ensemble Adapter, Ensemble InterContemporain, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Nordic Affect, Riot Ensemble, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop and WDR Sinfonieorchester. She is an active performer and regularly plays her own music, solo or with her long-time collaborator Skúli Sverrisson. She plays with Elja Ensemble and occasionally performs as a soloist with ensembles and orchestras.
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Margrét Bjarnadóttir is an Icelandic artist, choreographer, and director whose work merges dance, performance, visual arts, and literature. Her multidisciplinary practice encompasses choreography, performance, photography, video, text-based works, writing, drawing, and glass-cutting. Margrét was the choreographer for Björk’s Cornucopia, which premiered at The Shed in New York in 2019. She also choreographed a forty-person choir for Björk’s concert series at Harpa Music Hall in Reykjavík. In 2017, she collaborated with artist Ragnar Kjartansson and composer Bryce Dessner to create No Tomorrow, a guitar ballet for the Iceland Dance Company. In 2022, she and Ragnar transformed the piece into a six-channel video installation, which has been exhibited at venues such as the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.
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Scenatet is a cross-disciplinary performance ensemble. At its helm is founder Anna Berit Asp Christensen, who strives to surprise and break as many habits and traditions as possible, creating artistic experiences and insights that confront and include audiences in new ways. With a genre-breaking approach and a dramaturgical mindset, she and Scenatet eagerly and exploratively focus on the creative artistic process. As a fundamental part of the ensemble’s work, symbioses and collaborations across fields of expertise are emphasized. Based on an interdisciplinary foundation, Scenatet thus shapes the future of scenic music, ensuring epoch-making works that are unique, often conceptual and site-specific.
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Idea & Concept: Bára Gísladóttir, Margrét Bjarnadóttir and Anna Berit Asp Christensen
Composer: Bára Gísladóttir
Coreographer: Margrét Bjarnadóttir
Dancer: Aðalheiður Halldórsdóttir, Halla Þórðardóttir
Performing musicians: Björg Brjánsdóttir, Steinumm Vala, Lorenzo Colombo, Marta Soggetti, Elísabet Einarsdóttir and Jakob Bloch Jespersen
Light Design: Vertigo
Sound engineer: Kristian Alexander Pedersen
Text: Jon Fosse, Ann Jäderlund and others
Production Manger: Anna Borzak
Artistic Director: Anna Berit Asp Christensen