All-Flesh-Redux–Craig-Wright-1024

A touching love letter to our planet

All Flesh REDUX presents a poetic journey through time and space

By Jacqueline van de Geer

October 16, 2023

Combining polyphonic singing, dance, and theatre, All Flesh REDUX is a poetic journey through time and space. Part sing-a-long, this Dadaist performance piece is a touching love letter to our planet.

We sit in a circle in soft light and wait for the piece to unfold. Bringing together the worlds of medieval composers Guillaume de Machaut, Hildegard von Bingen and modern composer John Cage, the company’s creation contemplates the unknowable past and the unimaginable future and asks what acts of faith are possible in an uncertain world.

All Flesh REDUXGuillaume de Machaut was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the Ars Nova style in late medieval music. Regarded as the most significant French composer and poet of the 14th century, he is often seen as the century’s leading European composer. The visionary medieval nun, theologian, poet, and composer Hildegard of Bingen became a towering figure in early musical history.

Then John Cage’s As Slow as Possible is presented, a daring experiment of this composer and inventor of many explorations in music, time and performative actions. Musicians and philosophers discussed Cage’s instruction to play “as slow as possible” at a conference in 1997 because a properly maintained pipe organ could sound indefinitely.

The John Cage Organ Foundation Halberstadt decided to play the piece for 639 years to mark the time between the first documented permanent organ installation in Halberstadt Cathedral in 1361 and the start date of September 5, 2001. On July 5, 2008, two more organ pipes were added alongside the four already installed, and the tone became more complex. On July 5, 2012, two organ pipes were removed, and two were added to the organ. The note last changed on September 5, 2020.

The weaving of medieval song, contemporary dance and text continues our company’s interdisciplinary approach and reminds us that, throughout history, people have responded to turmoil with innovation and art.

Director Stacey Christodoulou

As Slow as Possible has a scheduled duration of 639 years, ending with, we hope, rapturous applause in the year 2640.

During an hour and a half, we are connected with the performers in an intimate encounter, singing with them, holding ropes and witnessing the explorations of how we survive in a changing world.

Says Director Stacey Christodoulou, “We could never imagine that the themes we spoke about in 2019 would become reality. In a certain way, the show was prophetic. However, I believe that the message of creating beauty as a form of resistance is even more important now. The weaving of medieval song, contemporary dance and text continues our company’s interdisciplinary approach and reminds us that, throughout history, people have responded to turmoil with innovation and art.”

All Flesh REDUX continues at The Other Theatre until October 22.

othertheatre.com

Images: Craig Wright

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Jacqueline van de Geer

Originally from the Netherlands, Jacqueline van de Geer crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 2005 to live and work in Montréal. She has a bachelor’s degree in visual arts and performance arts.




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