ARCHIVES 2000 / Triptyk

A three-part performance :
The Rites of Spring by Igor Stravinsky,
Dialogue de l'ombre double by Pierre Boulez,
The Symphony of Psalms by Igor Stravinsky

0In equine performance, all of Zingaro's shows tell of the conflict between two primordial life forces - barbarity and spirituality. The Avignon Festival has been one of the grand European stages upon which this equestrian theatre has evolved from Cabaret III (1989) through Opera Equestre (1991), Chimere (1994) and Eclipse (1997). Each different stage of development performed for the first time at the Festival, seeks the same end but with a fresh approach. Each of them follows the double philosophical and esthetic track based on shadow and light, the origins of thought and the lucidity of modernity. Part-shaman, part-civilizer, Bartabas is the dark horseman and troop chief, the writer/director/choreographer of all the shows. He has also made six feature-length films on the same themes.

Triptyk is another stage of development, on ground hitherto untrodden by Zingaro. Above all, it is an equestrian and theatrical composition inspired by the music of Igor Stravinsky. The opening segment, The Rites of Spring, is a pagan festival, and the concluding one being The Symphony of Psalms, the Biblical festival. In between the two, Dialogue de l'Ombre Double by Pierre Boulez, is a philosophical festival. Thus, in three parts, two "Stravinskian" and one "Boulezian", the performance moves from the untamed expression of dark forces to the conquest of serenity composed of interior peace and physical beauty. Bartabas' new work - still a choreography of people, animals and space - is enriched by the participation of artists from Kerala in southern India performing Kalaripayatt, a martial art, new riders and new horses. The music is the soul of the performance, while perpetually putting it in danger. Zingaro's horses have never before been subjected to such precision of interpretation. Never before has the team performed without horses as they do in the short second act to the music of Dialogue de l'Ombre Double, where the equine figures are represented by Jean-Louis Sauvat's sculptures and by their phantomesque presence (are they not always there, even if invisible ?). Never before has Bartabas been absent from the ring, but this time, he is in the control room, supervising his world of men and beasts for whom he has dreamed up strange and sumptuous interaction. A meditation on absence, Triptyk follows the signs given by the music. Pierre Boulez, who conducted the three recordings used here, is also one of the invisible artists of this soiree co-produced by IRCAM. The music is thus the source and the soul of a performance that creates Baudelarian correspondences.