DARKMATTER
Body, can you become (be) a hypothesis, a galaxy in full acceleration, a monstrous liquid star that cannot die?
In the duo DARKMATTER, Cherish Menzo and her partner Camilo Mejia Cortés seek, with the help of a Distorted Rap Choir, ways to detach their bodies from the daily reality of this imposed perception in which they operate.
For DARKMATTER, Menzo draws his inspiration from post-humanism, which aims to transcend corporeality. She also examines Afrofuturism, which means considering science fiction, technology, fantasy, etc. from an African or black point of view. The human form becomes something achievable that allows us to dream. Menzo also weaves a poetic layer inspired by astronomy. She is interested, among other things, in dark matter and black holes which meet and collide to create a new futuristic and enigmatic body.
DARKMATTER wants to wipe away this preconceived way of looking at our own body, the body of others and the stories we attribute to them. Menzo throws herself body and soul into the fray, which gives rise to a complex conversation that she wants to be both engaged and overcome. It is this duality that DARKMATTER helps to fuel.
As in JEZEBEL, she extends her gestural vocabulary by integrating techniques from hip-hop music. She thus applies the Chopped and Screwed method to her movements, a process which considerably slows down the tempo of the music. By stretching the notions of time, the register changes and the performing body emerges.
WARNINGS :
Strobe lights, smoke, loud noises, complete darkness, nudity.
Earplugs available for sensitive ears.
Cherish Menzo
PRODUCTION : GRIP, Frascati Producties
COPRODUCTION : Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Bruxelles, BE), CCN-Ballet national de Marseille in the context of l’accueil studio / Ministère de la Culture (FR), actoral festival (Marseille, FR), STUK (Louvain, BE), La Villette (Paris, FR), Festival d’Automne à Paris (FR), Beursschouwburg (Bruxelles, BE), Perpodium (BE)
Théâtre du Trillium.
PREMIER : mai 12-15 2022, Beursschouwburg/Kunstenfestivaldesarts Bruxelles (BE)
CONCEPT ET CHOREOGRAPHY : Cherish Menzo
CREATION AND PERFORMANCE : Camilo Mejía Cortés et Cherish Menzo
LIGHTING CONCEPTION : Niels Runderkamp
MUSIC COMPOSITION : Gagi Petrovic and Michael Nunes
MIX : Gagi Petrovic
COSTUME DESIGNER : JustTatty.com
SCÉNOGRAPHY : Morgana Machado Marques
DRAMATURGY : Renée Copraij
STAGE PRODUCTION : Pauline Van Nuffel
SINGING COACH : Daniël Bonsu et Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong
ARTISTIC COACH : Benjamin Kahn, Christian Yav and Nicole Geertruida
VOIX DISTORTED RAP CHOIR via www.distortedrapchoir.com
WITH REFERENCES TO :
Act I of the American opera “Troubled Island” by William Grant Still (1949)
‘BLACKSPACE: ON THE POETICS OF AN AFROFUTURE’
‘The Mask’ de Paul Laurens Dunbar
Choreography from Missy Elliot’s video clips: ‘Throw it back’ (2019). (If you are the choreographer or rights holder, please contact GRIP, so we can credit you correctly.)
The Mythology of the American electronic music duo Drexciya
RESIDENCES: STUK (Louvain, BE), La Villette (Paris, FR), Frascati (Amsterdam, NL), Beursschouwburg (Brussels, BE), CCN-Ballet national de Marseille as part of the studio reception / Ministry of Culture (FR)
IN COLLABORATION WITH: Trill (Leuven, BE), WijzijnDOX (Utrecht, NL), De Coproducers (NL)
FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Flemish government, The Performing Arts Fund NL, the federal tax shelter of the Belgian government and Cronos Invest
Strobe lights, smoke, loud noises, complete darkness, nudity.
Earplugs available for sensitive ears.
After show discussion on the February 16 2024.
