Bernie Ng courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
Dear Shaded Viewers,
Last night I had the great pleasure of attending the performance of Cry Jailolo created by Eko Supriyanto at Musee du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac. If you would like to forget the current political tsunami and immerse yourself in the relentless rhythms of the ocean, I highly recommend you book a seat at one of the performances starting the 18th till the 27th of November. The seven young dancers aged between 17 – 21 are in fact not trained dancers at all. A little background on how this trance of a performance began. The choreographer Eko Supriyanto spent two years diving with 350 local youth in the remote Indonesian town of Jailolo. The town is known for its spectacular coral seascapes, Supriyanto was profoundly affected by the bond the young men of Jailolo had with their underwater environment and their relationship with this ancient ecology. Together they began to build a performance that grew out of this connection. In the beginning there were 350 young men and from that group he chose seven that have travelled to Europe for the first time to give a performance that draws both from contemporary dance and traditional ritual. The power of the dancers will transport you to their town with the sound of the rolling surf and the darting of fish, the breakers and the tides as they call an end the destruction of coral reefs and a joyous heralding of the time when the soul of these waters will be restored.
Eko Supriyanto, the founder and director of Ekos Dance Company, is considered the leading Indonesian dancer and choreographer of his generation. He was trained in Javanese court dances and the Indonesian martial arts of Pencak Silat since the age of seven. He was enlisted as a dance consultant for Julie Taymor’s Lion King Broadway production, has choreographed for and performed in major international productions including Peter Sellars’ Le Grand Macabre, John Adam’s Opera Flowering Tree in Vienna, the Barbican Centre London and the Lincoln Center New York, the list goes on, he was also a featured dancer in Madonna’s Drowned World tour. The composer Setyawan Jayantoro’s music was as awe inspiring as the seven dancers. If you would like more information or tickets: http://www.quaibranly.fr/fr/expositions-evenements/au-musee/spectacles-fetes-et-evenements/spectacles/details-de-levenement/e/cry-jailolo-36775/.
Later,
Diane
