Atlas Song
Atlas Song is interdisciplinary full evening created with the artists of the Gothenburg Dance Company and the Swedish musician Anna von Hauswolff. Collaborating closely and working with new music they created a memory landscape where both the expression of music and dance could be felt and heard.
Imre and Marne van Opstal
“Our aim has been to create a bridge between concert and dance and find ways where dance is allowed to become music and music is allowed to become dance. To find the points of contact where the art forms meet and unite. Atlas Song is a performance about the contrast between the living and the lifeless.
Anna von Hausswolff’s music has been the starting point for our inspiration, and we have created the performance as a landscape of memories around the experiences contained in her music.
The titan Atlas carries the world’s concerns on his shoulders but also tells us something about what it means to bear the heavier, personal aspects of life. It is universal and grand but at the same time deeply personal. You can be part of something larger, but at still enshrine yourself. You can exist together with others without compromising your own needs.
There is something primordial and down-to-earth in Anna’s musical expression. The music is incredibly inspiring and marries well with the space we have wanted to create. The scenography is an introspective room that reflects the world. A room, a voice, where the reflections shine like polished silver.”
Anna von Hausswolff
“The overarching theme in the music is freedom. To have ownership of one’s own body and emotions. To not be influenced and burdened by others’ expectations and opinions.
It is also about being part of something spectacular and grand, but at the same time carving out one’s path and not submitting to others’ grand plans.
For me, Atlas is a character who carries the world on his shoulders and in doing so, forgets his desires and needs. We need to confront these qualities, embrace them, but also question them. How can we find our place in the world without destroying ourselves?
Reaching an original expression in the music is central to me. Music is at its best when it creates a physical resonance in my body. Uniting the art forms of dance and music is a way to achieve that.”
‘Atlas Song’ opened and celebrated the joint 30th anniversaries of the Gothenburg Opera and Gothenburg Music and Dance Festival.
credits
Choreography / Concept / Direction: Imre van Opstal & Marne van Opstal
Music: Anna von Hausswolff
Set Design: Tom Visser, Imre van Opstal & Marne van Opstal
Light Design: Tom Visser
Costume Design: Imre van Opstal & Marne van Opstal
Rehearsal Director: Jan Spotak
Performers: Benjamin Behrends, Mei Chen, Tsung-Hsien Chen, Clàudia Gil Cabús, Logan Hernandez, Dominic McAinsh, Anna Ozerskaia, Auguste Palayer, Sofia Sangregorio, Johanna Wernmo
Duration: approx. 70 minutes
Premiere: Göteborgoperans Danskompani, 2024
