Uriel Barthélémi with Sophie Bernado and Salomon Baneck-Asaro

Navigating the Ruins of the Old World (2021)
​Performance

For his new production, drummer and composer Uriel Barthélémi joins forces with bassoon player Sophie Bernado and hip-hop dancer Salomon Baneck-Asaro to create a special open-air dance and music performance for the festival’s opening. Together, they navigate a stylized map of the world ravaged by centuries of colonialism and forcible modernization—looking for a way out of their apartness.

Living on different islands and separated by open space and oceans of light, the performers move and play in their own worlds and rhythms. They are accompanied by sharp and radical “digital flashes” representing the predominance of electronic means in today’s social connections. Movement and sound, and not speech, are the performers’ only way of reconnecting to one another.

Rediscovering movements from the recent analog past allows them to tap into forms of primal energy and explore different heritages shattered by the most recent wave of forcible digitalization. Thus, the dancers and musicians “re-find” themselves and one another, constructing fantasy folklores and developing new, non-verbal forms of communication. With the motion of their bodies, they resist the restriction and ablation of thought, speech, and “common” sense that go hand in hand with digital surveillance and the joys of instant online consumption.


Bio
Uriel Barthélémi (1980, Reims, France) is a drummer, composer, and electro-acoustic musician. A special focus of his compositional work lies on collaboration with the visual and performing arts, exploring the space, place, and political context of performance in a profoundly globalized reality. Intimately combining drums and electronics, a flexible composing style, and improvisation he has had works commissioned by FIAC; MaerzMusik; Césaré; Centre national de création musicale, Sacem / Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine; Al Ma'mal Art Foundation; and Sharjah Art Foundation. He lives in Paris.

Sophie Bernado (1978, France) is a singer, bassoon player, composer, and rapper. She is a prolific performer and improviser who works with various groups, for instance, L’Arbre Rouge, featuring Hugues Mayot, Valentin and Théo Ceccaldi, and Joachim Florent. With Mayot and Rafaelle Rinaudo, she forms the improvisational trio Ikui Doki, prizewinner of Jazz Migration and the JMF Tour 2018. Ikui Doki premiered a children’s show called Tapa Mitaka and a new repertoire based on medieval music, Suzanne un jour, with guest singer Sofia Jernberg.

Salomon Baneck-Asaro (1982, France) is an actor, dancer, and choreographer. He works with a form of “augmented dance” fusing hip-hop, digital art, and live musical performance. As a member of the Legion X and Freemindz crews, Baneck-Asaro has been taking part in international dance “battles” for years, winning numerous prizes. Baneck-Asaro can be seen in many hip-hop, contemporary, and opera productions and performances, where he showcases the scope of his artistic palette. These include The Krash Nights of the Heartbeat Queen; Kaiju by the Shonen / Éric Minh Cuong Castaing Company and the Pas de Quartier Company, with shows in Guyana and Paris (Archives Nationales). He has also performed in musicals such as Gladiator and The Ten Commandments and played the role of Wiki in the film Break (2018). He lives in Paris.

9.9., 20:30

Hauptplatz
8010 Graz

11.9., 20:30

Messe Graz (Freiluftarena B)
Eingang 2, Fröhlichgasse 35
8010 Graz
♿ Venue accessible for wheelchairs


Duration: 50 min.

16/12 euros


Performance: Salomon Baneck-Asaro, Uriel Barthélémi, Sophie Bernado, Yasmine El Baramawy, and Maca (Alexis Fernandez Ferrera)
Concept: Uriel Barthélémi with Sophie Bernado and Salomon Baneck-Asaro
Sound and lighting design: Fred Raby
Advisor: Stéphanie Auberville
Costume designer and stage design adviser: Jennifer Minard


Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ’21

In coproduction with Césaré, Centre national de création musicale and Le Manège, scène nationale—Reims

Prepared during residencies at CIRCa—Pôle National Cirque and Le Générateur

Supported by Drac Île-de-France, CD 94, and Drac Grand Est