To have musicians from Kinshasa—from fields as different as traditional music, folk dance, or jazz—perform the baroque repertoire; here's an original idea, but one that should not however surprise an audience used to Alain Platel's shows. In vsprs and mercy! already, he took the sacred out of Monteverdi and Bach arias, in order to extract from them an energy at once more direct, more familiar, conducive to the experimentation of a different, culturally mixed dance. It is precisely at the end of the mercy! tour that the countertenor Serge Kakudji, with the support of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg in Brussels, had the idea of performing opera arias with musicians. A workshop was set up in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the European baroque repertoire was to meet the musical culture of the Congo. Fabrizio Cassol soon joined the project, followed by Alain Platel. Fatal Blow is first and foremost a concert, conceived through exchanges, meetings, and the crossing of cultures. It is also the expression of a joy that defies death and violence, represented by a curtain of bullet casings in the background. A joy that appears at the intersection of a revelation—like love at first sight—and fate, that Alain Platel wanted to share, like a message that would be more powerful than the usual manifestations of grief and compassion.
Distribution
On an idea of Serge Kakudji and Paul Kerstens
Artistic direction Alain Platel
Musical direction Fabrizio Cassol et Rodriguez Vangama
Conductor Rodriguez Vangama
Scénography Freddy Tsimba
Lighting Carlo Bourguignon
Sound Max Stuurman
Costumes Dorine Demuynck
Artistic direction assistant Romain Guion
With
Serge Kakudji (contertenor)
And the musicians
Deb's Bukaka (balafon)
Cédrick Buya (percussions)
Tister Ikomo (xylophone)
Angou Ingutu (bass guitare )
Bouton Kalanda (likembe),
Silva Makengo (likembe)
Bule Mpanya (chorus)
Jean-Marie Matoko (percussions)
Erick Ngoya (likembe)
Costa Pinto (acoustic guitare )
36 Seke (percussions)
Russell Tshiebua (chorus)
Rodriguez Vangama (electric guitare)
Production
Production KVS & les ballets C de la B
Coproduction Théâtre national de Chaillot (Paris), Holland Festival (Amsterdam), Festival d'Avignon, Theater im Pfalzbau (Ludwigshafen), TorinoDanza, Opéra de Lille, Wiener Festwochen (Vienne)
With the support of Ville de Bruxelles, Ville de Gand, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie, Province de la Flandre-Orientale, Autorités flamandes