‘[The house] is the human being’s first world’. (G. Bachelard)
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A piano recital inspired by the readings of Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space, his reflections about the house, how it shelters and shapes our memories, thoughts and dreams.
As an organic consequence of the dynamics and questions raised during the creative process, this project turned to be an invitation to a journey through memories and intimacy. It became an autobiographical work, with the intention that, hopefully it can resonate to one’s own memories and reflections from their ‘houses’ and/ or ‘homes’.
Element of research: the space of performance – multiple pianos, objects (music boxes, wardrobe, photos, recordings), portable lighting (home lamps), moving performer, and moving audience (no audience seats provided).
Repertoire: Contemporary Brazilian Music
Method:
- Selecting quotations from Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space;
- Selecting keywords from those quotations;
- Selecting pieces of music which relate to those keywords, through theirs titles and musical material;
- Reflecting about the quotations and keywords while practicing the musical repertoire;
- Setting each keyword + piece of music as a scene;
- Experimenting with objects and actions;
- Literature review;
- Sketching stage map and performance script;
- Consultancy with professional dramaturgs;
- Journalling;
- Rehearsing
To be presented: 21st and 22nd January at 7pm and 8:30pm respectively, at the Drama Studio, Oxford Brookes University.
Open to the public, free admission, only 15 persons per evening (pre-booked by email).
Audience feedback: to be obtained by written short questionnaire (optional and anonymous).
References:
Gaston Bachelard. The Poetics of Space. 1994 Edition, Beacon Press, Boston.
Deborah Colker. Casa, 1998. https://youtu.be/IcTPb4z8Nys.
Ingrid Campos. Architect and Sculptor. http://www.ingridcampos.com/home/bio.
R&D photo documentation
Technical rehearsal
Programme
- Memories (‘Life begins well, it begins enclosed, protected, all warm in the bosom of the house’) – Tátil (2007), 7’30’ by Valéria Bonafé
- Echoes (‘…the old house, for those who know how to listen, is a sort of geometry of echoes’) – Ressonâncias (1983), 6’15, by Marisa Rezende
- Corners (‘When we recall the hours we have spent in our corners, we remember above all silence, the silence of our thoughts’) – Nenhum, Nenhuma (2010), 5’20, by Gustavo Penha
- The attic (‘… even when the attic room is lost and gone there remains the fact that we once loved a garret, once lived in an attic’) – Ludvan ven Beethowig (2009), for two toy pianos and one player, 4’20, by Daniel Moreira
- The cellar (‘… the dark entity of the house… When we dream there, we are in harmony with the irrationality of the depths’) – gosto de terra (2013), for piano and live electronics, 7’ (min), by Daniel Puig
- Love, Intimacy, and Dream (‘ [the house] bespeaks intimacy… ‘The house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace’) – El sueño… el vuelo (2010), 6’40, by Silvia Berg
Poster
Performance documentation – Thursday 21st January 2016, 7pm
Performance documentation – Thursday 21st January 2016, 8pm
Performance documentation – Friday 22nd January 2016, 8:30pm
Performance video documentation (video clip)
Special thanks: CNPq (PhD sponsorship), Paul Whitty/ SARU (additional support), Ray Lee and Sarah Nicolls (research supervision), Joel Horwood (Dramaturgy consultancy), Rob Drummer (Dramaturgy consultancy), Brett Gordon (electronics technician), Harriet Butler (electronics assistant), Stu Allsopp (rehearsal and performance photo documentation), Alex Newton (performance video documentation), Russell Anderson (Drama Studio), Nomi Everall (early Dramaturgy consultancy), Paul Medley (poster), Roberts Pianos, C&L Scaffolding Ltda, Alci and Brasilina Rodrigues, all the composers mentioned on the programme.
Késia Decoté 