C R O W
“Ballet Poem” (1990) composed by guitarist Dusan Bogdanovic, which is based on the poetry by Ted Hughes.
1.6.2022
20 Uhr
Einlass 19:30 Uhr
PROGR - Zentrum für Kulturproduktion, Aula 3011 Bern
Free entrance
Photos by Mira Alkhovik
PROGR - Zentrum für Kulturproduktion, Aula 3011 Bern
Our trailer from the performance
About
Multimedia artistic performance combining music, poetry, dance and painting. "Crow" is a performance of the “Ballet Poem” composed by guitarist Dusan Bogdanovic (1990), which is based on the poetry by Ted Hughes. The show aims to establish links between music, poetry, dramaturgy, and fine arts. The mystery of the long life of the crow, and the freedom and power of death, is contrasted with the lives of humans, who are confined to the small glass boxes of responsibilities and constraints, in which they are conceiving and creating their own little universes.
Hughes is inspired by the myths of the Indians of North America to create his own myth of re-creation. The main hero, Crow, whose adventures he narrates, appears as an anthropomorphic animal, a frightening but fearful character, imagined above all as a survivor. It is this ability enjoyed by the crow to survive in desolation and chaos that gives it, according to Hughes, its mythical importance.
The performance requires agility and concentration on the part of the various artists who evolve in a non-traditional aesthetic universe. The accompaniment of the story is done in a rhythmic way to the sound of delicate harmonies, sometimes more violent, played on the accordion and the guitar, balanced by double bass line. Over the course of the narration, the ballet gets carried away at times, the whole scenery becomes frenetic. Singing, music and dancing echo each other. The whole piece scrolls to music with Balkan accents, sometimes blues, sometimes pop. At the same time, the visual artist, locked in a transparent box, transcribes the sounds she perceives through lines.
The entire ballet shines with its originality and stands out for the diversity of artistic talents.
C A S T
#owerview:
In 2019, my friend Sebastian (the guitarist in this performance) was regularly travelling from Strasbourg to Bern to attend his lessons at the HKB, and to play in an ensemble of free improvisation here in Progr. This is where I met him for the first time. Soon Sebastian realized that my primary teacher in Serbia had performed with the famous guitarist and composer Dusan Bogradovic, and Sebastian came up with the idea to start a quartet for Bogdanovic`s ballet—which became reality in a matter of days. While our quartet is no longer active today, the idea to create a stage performance based on Crow stayed alive, and in January 2022 I wrote a first concept, which won some financial support from the HKB’s Amman-Falb scholarship in early March. Since then I am working on a daily basis to make my first own project become reality, while simultaneously finishing my studies in my final semester at the HKB.
At times I felt overwhelmed by the workload of simultaneously being a performer and the main organiser of this project. Without doubt, tonight’s performance would not have been possible without the immense support of some amazing and talented people around me, both on and off the stage: my childhood friend Anja (accordion) and her partner Alvaro (bass), my friends Sebastian (guitar), Rodica (painter), and Didier (dancer), my friend Peter, who constructed the glassbox, my family, my partner Kai, my teachers and supporters from the HKB and the Ammann-Falb scholarship, and many unnamed others.
Aleksandra Stankovic, Bern, June 2022