fertile ground
live music and dance
Made in 2019 for Newcastle-based company Fertile Ground, Twilight Dances has been created by Renaud Wiser in collaboration with choreographer Malgorzata Dzierzon on Schubert's iconic string quartet n.14, Death and the Maiden, played live by Quatuor Voxpopuli.
Twilight Dances looks at the eternal quest for the one thing that we cannot have - immortality. Inspired by Schubert's score we explored the existing representations of the Death and the Maiden theme in music, visual arts, film and poetry, combining movement and live music as a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life. We considered old and new stories of immortality, from myths to popular culture and worked collaboratively with the cast to reflect today's generations take on these universal, timeless themes. Excerpts from poems by Matthias Claudius, Hayden Carruth and Günter Grass.
Concept & Choreography: Renaud Wiser & Malgorzata Dzierzon
Performance & Choreographic Contributions: Kiran Kumar, Ashling McCann,
Megan Otty & Olivia Paddison
Music: Franz Schubert String Quartet No.14
Quatuor Voxpopuli: Antoine Bareil, 1st violin - Uliana Drugova, 2nd violin - Cynthia Blanchon, viola – Julie Trudeau, cello
Fertile Ground’s 2019 Twilight Dances tour has been made possible with funding from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants, Sir James Knott Trust, Newcastle Culture Investment Fund, Polish Cultural Institute, Thirplow Trust and is supported by Sunderland College, Newcastle College and Dance City.
