Odyssey
She once was a true love of mine
Choreography:
Beppie Blankert
Composition:
Louis Andriessen
Text:
James Joyce
(exerpt from Ulysses)
Based on the Homers Odysseia and on James Joyce’s Ulysses, Odyssey is the crown on the collaboration between Beppie Blankert and Louis Andriessen. They made this dance concert in 1995/1996. In 2003 it was recreated in co-production with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. The composition for four soprano’s and the dance tell the love adventures of Odysseus during his ten year journey home to Ithaka. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, tells her story with the words of Molly Bloom (Joyce’s personification of Penelope) while she is waiting for him to come home. The work is an example of the interest both Beppie Blankert and Louis Andriessen have in the symbioses of sensuality and detachment in which they find inspiration and structure to create. Played in the open air with four singers, three dancers and one actress, this extraordinary performance brings together the ancient, the old and the new.
"An ambitious endeavor"
Chicago Tribune
"A collaboration that breaks down barriers"
Wynne Delacoma, Chicago Sun-Times
"Blankert brings epic poem to life"
Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
"Ancient epic meets early 20th Century modernism and 21st Century site-specific theater
An entrancing, worthwhile journey"
Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune
"Solidly Monumental... Superb.... Phenomenal.... Splendid...."
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
"Remarkable work that challenges perception"
Deborah Jowitt, the Village Voice
"It's a real multidisciplinary effort"
Louise Kennedy, the Boston Globe
"Strong concept, evocative soundscape, intriguing movement, superb acting.."
Karen Nelson, Daily Hampshire Gazette
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Dutch reviews
Nederlanse recenties
Images from Chicago, new York and Oerol
thanks to Robert van Heumen
Photographs © Marco Borgreve
The 2003 tour is made possible by a subsidy from the Netherlands Cultural Fund, a program to intensify international cultural relations of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, VSB fonds and The Netherland America Foundation.
Special thanks to Laurie Uprichard (Danspace Project, New York) and Martine Dekker (Studio Dok, Amsterdam)
Grand Theatre in Groningen (the Netherlands) generously supports the tour.
|
Chicago (IL) Museum of Contemporary Art |
May 14 – 18 2003 |
|
New York (NY) Arts & Ideas Program of the World Financial Centre |
May 29 – 30 2003 |
|
Terschelling (NL) Oerol Festival |
June 13 – 21 2003 |
|
Den Helder (NL) Kaap Helder |
July 16 - 19 2003 |
|
Hoorn (NL) Karavaan |
July 24 – 27 2003 |
|
Holyoke (MA) Massachusetts International Festival of Arts |
October 15 - 18 2003 |
