The Requiem is a formula, each prayer ; each musical piece is articulated under a form of sequences.
As with any mathematical system, it offers a form of interrogation without losing its nature.
Never changing its rules, nor its order, the Requiem re-invents itself with the time period and its contexts. It is a musical and vocal ritual written for the rest and liberation of the body. It represents the ultimate resistance of the body. Resistance is certainly what we associate with Marc Sens, a rock artist and electrical guitarist as well as Casey, a rap artist and singer.
We have chosen a section of the requiem in order to research its sonority and a leitmotif which is present in this selection (Mozart Cherubini, Verdi, Fauré, Britten, Schnittke).
Using distortion pedals, cord waves, bows, a resonance box, etc..., which musical aspect can one give to a Requiem today?
From the recited psalm, a chant of praise, the words are punctuated, broadened and an axis is created. The choice of vocabulary permits such a circulation. The words maintain their form, even when absorbed by the music.
Casey has a firm language. She gives the words location and form. We appreciate this sensation of resistance that she gives us, beyond what rap culture messages convey. Disguised as a melismatic chant, or a litany, the reoccurring words are: rest, light, pity, deliverance and anger.
For what would we pray today ?
The Requiem is not a disaster, but a passage. This passage is an accompaniment in which worry and belief confront the enigma that they must resolve.
In the chosen passage, we are confronted with the figure of the dog (Cerbère, Anubis, Garm, Xolotl...), it oscillates from the protective dog to that of a dangerous one.
At the heart of its two roles, between terror and fascination, we find the figure reoccurring as the guardian psychopomp, it guides the souls in their voyage towards the realm of the dead.
We will call on a prosthetic sculptress, Anne Leray, in order to subtly modify our faces. A favorable extension to the interpretation of these roles.

La Zampa

The show is taking place in the framework of the project "Focus on Art and Science in the Performing Arts" with the support of Culture Programme of the European Commission.

Choreography | Magali Milian et Romuald Luydlin
With |  Magali Milian, Romuald Luydlin, Marc Sens
Guitars | Marc Sens
Light design|  Pascale Bongiovanni
Sound design|  Valérie Leroux
Sculptor|  Anne Leray
Texts | Casey

Delegated Production | Compagnie la ZAMPA

In co-production with|  Le Théâtre de Nîmes, l'Estive-Scène Nationale de Foix et de l'Ariège, Scène Nationale d'Albi. Fondazione Fabbrica Europa per le arti contemporanee

Residence of creation | DSN-Dieppe Scène Nationale, Scène Nationale d'Albi, Ville de Tournefeuille, Teatro Metastasio - Prato (Italie), La Ferme du Buisson Scène Nationale de Marne-la-Vallée.

In the framework of its tour in Montréal and New York, this spectacle has the sopport of Service de Coopération et d'Action Culturelle du Consulat général de France in Québec and of the Cultural Service of the French Embassy in the U.S.

La Zampa is sustained by|  Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication/Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles Midi-Pyrénées (Aide aux Compagnies), by Région Midi-Pyrénées (Convention triennale), by Conseil Général de l'Ariège (Aide au projet) and by the city of Pamiers.

 

photo by Erik Damiano