Yours
Yours is a dialogue between a pianist and the video projection of a dancer, commented on by a female voice and accompanied by a drum. The public enters a room in the center of which a grand piano and a video screen are closely surrounded by chairs. The lights go off, the pianist strikes the first chord and a female voice is heard. Her text - inspired by Samuel Becketts "Company" - leads the viewers into a world of an imaginary companionship, an encounter with one's imaginary self. Musical gestures activate the projection of a nude male dancer. The music constructs, recreates and transforms his movements. At times the dependency is so close as if the dancer was a puppet fully manipulated by the pianist's hands. Short gestures are repeated in multiple variants and are observed with intense concentration. A primal sound and dance vocabulary is gradually imprinted in the viewers' memory. At one point the pianist interrupts his playing and the projection. In complete darkness and guided by the female voice the viewers imagine body movements of their own. The pianist/dancer comes back with a continuous dance sequence build out of the memorized vocabulary. With time all involved i.e. live pianist, the image of the dancer, the female voice and the viewers are woven into a counterpoint of control and freedom.
09/16/2000: “Warsaw Autumn - 43. International Festival of Contemporary Music”, Warsaw (PL)
Version for simulation platform:
Hardware: Apple Macintosh G4 (with Korg 1212 and miroMotion DC 30+)/ MIDI interface/ 8 speakers/ video projector/ simulation platform
Software: Emagic Logic Audio Platinum/ custom software
Performance version:
Hardware: Yamaha Disklavier/ Apple Macintosh G4 (with Korg 1212 and miroMotion DC 30+)/ MIDI interface/ 4 speakers/ video projector/ projection screen
Software: MAX/MSP/nato / custom software
Simulation platform: ø 6.40m/ dimensions variable
Performance version: ca. 18-20min.
Concept and realization: Jaroslaw Kapuscinski, Nik Haffner/ Composition, piano, programming: Jaroslaw Kapuscinski/ Choreography: Nik Haffner/ Dance: Anthony Rizzi/ Camera, light: Boris Michalski/ Percussion: Hakim Ludin/ Voice: Kate Strong/ Dramaturgy: Astrid Sommer/ Sound recording: Alexander Noelle, Volker Schmidt/ MIDI recording: Cornelius Pöpel/ Software development (MIDI control for simulation platform): Rene Graf, Björn Giesler/ Production management: Jan Gerigk, Annika Blunck, Matthias Osterwold/ Production: ZKM | Institute for Visual Media and ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics
ZKM | Institute for Visual Media and ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics, 2000.