Hommages

A tribute to Vaslav Nijinsky, Josephine Baker, Valeska Gert & Harry Sheppard.

Cabaret and music hall, transvestism and eroticism, these are the sources from which Mark Tompkins, the French-American choreographer, draws his inspiration. He has previously appeared at the Kaaitheater with Song and Dance and ANIMAL.

In Hommages (1998) Tompkins puts himself in the position of four people from the dance world who have been of great significance to him: Vaslav Nijinsky, one of the icons of the Ballets Russes at the start of the 20th century; Valeska Gert, a German actress and dancer who was renowned for her eccentric and pithy performances; Josephine Baker, nicknamed ‘the Black Pearl’, who was the great diva of the Paris revues in the twenties; and lastly Harry Sheppard, a black American dancer and personal friend of Tompkins.

Tompkins created these four solos independently of one another. His first tribute dates from 1989 and the last from 1998, the year when he first assembled them into a single performance.

PRESS

Le Monde: ‘Mark Tompkins displays his taste for transvestitism with such joyous and fierce irony that it leads finally to total nudity. The more he disguises himself, the more he reveals. […]To the memory of Nijinski and the others, Hommages is a declaration of love for the theatre.’

PROGRAMME

- La Valse de Vaslav, Hommage à Nijinski (1989) – 17’
- Icons, Hommage à Valeska Gert (1998) – 13’

entracte – 20’ >

Under My Skin – Hommage à Joséphine Baker (1996) – 25’
Witness – Hommage à Harry Sheppard (1992) – 15’