Space mining?
Another calling!
Resting their head on the earth, they enter into their subconscious cave.
Grieving towards the light, they reconnect with their grace.
The psychonaut is called upon their warrior to protect the living, the cosmos.
Who believes that humans are the only sentient ones?
Inner reaches of outer space.
In this choreography we question the extractive and neo-colonial aspect of space mining and space colonization, and through a rite of passage, including tending to grief, we transition towards a more mature world of “we” instead of “me”.
soul-scapes is a polyphony of the diverse colours of the soul through the form of a fictive rite of passage. A duo is being each other’s master of ceremony, creating the aural universe for each other’s dance by interweaving breath, voice and movement, relating the individual to the collective, to the anima mundi and the cosmos. Through shape-shifting we twist through different archetypes into a mythical alchemy, spinning a multilayered world of the mystical and the cyborgian. Letting the music radiate through our movements we amplify our dance through our voice.
Direction : Tania Soubry Concept, Choreography and Performance : Tania Soubry & Catherine Elsen Dramaturgy: Martin Hargreaves and Alexandra Baybutt Roy Hart Vocal Assistance: Emanuela Lazzerini and Annikki Scheu Costume Design: Michèle Tonteling Mentoring: Camille Mutel Lighting Design, Music Technology Assistance and Projections: Petrit Jung Duration: 36 minutes Support: « Les Émergences » by TROIS C-L – Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois and Fondation Indépendance Sponsor: Stagemusic Luxembourg
Reviews
Kolonisierung des Weltraums, by Anina Valle Thiele
Les couleurs de l’âme, by Marie-Laure Rolland
Tania Soubry n’en est pas à sa première création puisque sa première pièce remonte à 2003. Soul-scapes est toutefois le premier projet qu’elle réalise avec l’artiste pluridisciplinaire Catherine Elsen. La fausse simplicité de cette pièce ne résiste pas à un regard attentif. A tel point que c’est peut-être ce trop plein qui déstabilise, cette impression que les artistes ont voulu concentrer en 20 minutes des réflexions qui partent dans différentes directions, tout en brouillant les panneaux de signalisation qui permettraient de s’y retrouver.
Elles convoquent le cosmos (suggéré par le casque d’astronaute avec lequel Tania Soubry entre sur scène) mais aussi les rituels (la coiffe de plumes de Catherine Elsen, leurs postures de prêtresses antiques levant les bras au ciel), dans une sorte de va-et-vient entre physique et métaphysique. Les costumes, signés Michèle Tonteling, contribuent à semer le trouble, mêlant esthétique pop et références new age dans un syncrétisme qui n’est pas sans pertinence au regard du monde dans lequel nous vivons.
La gestuelle lente, fluide, souvent en miroir, est rythmée par un travail vocal remarquable. Leurs mélopées jaillissent du fond de leurs entrailles, dans les aigus pour Tania Soubry, les graves pour Catherine Elsen. Cette texture se combine aux mouvements pour leur donner une sorte de supplément d’âme. Un pari audacieux qui parvient à éviter l’écueil du grotesque grâce à l’engagement sans réserve des interprètes et à leur complicité manifeste.
The colours of the soul
Tania Soubry is not at her first creation, since her first piece dates back to 2003. “Soul-scapes” is however the first project she realises with multidisciplinary artist Catherine Elsen. The apparent simplicity of this piece does not resist an attentive look. To such a point that it is maybe this overflow that is destabilizing, giving this impression that the artists wanted to concentrate in 20 minutes reflections that go into different directions, while blurring the road signs that would allow to find one’s way.
They summon the cosmos (suggested by the astronaut’s helmet with which Tania Soubry enters on stage), but also rituals (the feather headdress of Catherine Elsen, their postures of ancient priestesses, raising their arms to the sky), in a kind of back-and-forth between physical and metaphysical. The costumes, signed Michèle Tonteling, contribute to stir trouble, mixing pop aesthetics and new age references in a syncretism that is not irrelevant to the world we live in.
The slow, fluid gestures, often mirroring each other, is in rhythm with the remarkable vocal work. Their chants spring from the depths of their bowels, in the high notes for Tania Soubry, the bass for Catherine Elsen. This vocal fabric combines with the movements to give them an additional touch of soul. A bold bet that avoids the pitfall of the grotesque thanks to the full commitment of the performers and their obvious complicity.
Performances: 4.3.2021: at Centre Culturel Régional Opderschmelz (LU) at 10.30 am and 20.00pm 16.6.2018: Trip Space, London (UK) 19-22.4.2018: as part of Émergences at TROIS C-L - Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois, Luxembourg City (LU) 11.4.2018: as part of Émergences at Cercle Cité, Luxembourg City (LU) http://www.danse.lu/evenements/les-emergences/les-emergences-vol-5/ http://www.danse.lu/creations/2018-2/soul-scapes-tania-soubry-catherine-elsen/ Started as a Research Project during my Conway Hall Artist Development Program 2014-2016, London, and in 2017 at TROIS C-L – Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois. Work-in-progress Performances: 3.3.2017: TROIS C-L – Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois, Luxembourg City (LU) 3.3.2016: TROIS C-L – Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois, Luxembourg City (LU) 10.2.2016: Colchester Arts Centre (UK) 1.4.2015: Conway Hall, London (UK) 11.3.2015: Conway Hall, London (UK)
