Gathering Fantasies: homage to otherness

The non-hierarchical collective Moving Strings explores the intersections between sound and movement. Four new compositions construct this performance organically flowing into each other. In the ensemble’s self-composed programme Gathering Fantasies, -Homage to Otherness- the exception becomes the rule, as a tribute to otherness. Sound, bodies and space find and influence each other in a combination of music and choreography. From abstract sound to melodies and catchy rhythms, from content to container, the collective presents a fluid way of being.

The four compositions:
Pulse - Alex Welch
A wave will come - Irene Sorozabal
Maelstrom - Manuela Tessi
Stagnant Water, Gathering Fantasies, Round and Round - Maya Felixbrot

‘Pulse’ by Alex Welch is a score that explores the ways in which a musical pulse comes into being, how it is assimilated into the body and how it moves in space. A changing pattern creates a shared feeling, in both players and audience alike. There is propulsion and stillness, ebb and flow. Sounds moves and movement sounds as both players and audience are immersed in a constantly transforming texture.

‘Maelstrom’ by Manuela Lucia Tessi is a piece that stems from the research around the spiral form. The spiral recurs often in nature because of its efficiency. At the same time it is a very beautiful structure. When form and function merge with such grace there is a lot to learn and share which has a profound resonance. Conceptually and physically, spirals subvert hierarchy. Polarization between up/down, front/back, right/left is destabilized by the spiral form. The spiral has the potential to collect force and release it, winding and unwinding, ascending and descending, creating disorientation and momentum.

‘A wave will come’ by Irene Sorozábal is a piece about a dream. A dream about a prophecy, about a community living under earth, about their first encounter with the sea. A wave will come/we will fade into oblivion/for a while A wave will come/we will float unconscious/for a while “A wave will come” is not about the things that happened in the dream, but about how this dream felt. My research Reflex Voice is an approach to expression in singing which investigates the connection between emotions and voice. I based my explorations on embodied emotion, a way of experiencing an emotion through enactment of its physical characteristics. My main inspirations were two theater practices: Historical Acting and Navarasas.

‘Trilogy: Stagnant Water, Gathering Fantasies, Round and Round’ by Maya Felixbrοt 1st chapter: Stagnant Water is water that has stopped flowing. This work borrows the concept from nature and applies it to human society, examining ways of responding and coping with limited freedom of movement. 2nd chapter: Gathering Fantasies appeared in a dream during the first lockdown. Its current version refers to the demonstrations taking place in Israel in the past months. 3rd chapter: Round and Round explores the symbiotic relationship between humor and pain and exhaustion and recuperation. testing how far one must go to remember or forget.

Moving Strings is a platform for the research of sound and movement, in creative as well as educational context, working together since 2018. We are a non-hierarchical creative performing ensemble, we create our own work and perform it in theaters, alternative spaces and site-specific settings, and collaborate with musicians, choreographers and artists. We hold regular research sessions, workshops and creative laboratories and teach in non/academic institutes. Moving Strings on instagram.

Moving Strings are:
Alex Welch, Noor Kohne, Maya Felixbrot, Shana Raine Brown - violin,
Irene Sorozábal - voice / recorders,
Camille Verhaak - clarinet,
Jonathan Nagel - double bass,
Aina Fort - saxophones,
Manuela Tessi - choreographer
Ellen Knops - lights