Operville
From rock star to prima donna
In the run up to Performatik 2017 – the Brussels biennial of performance art – we will be reviving some of the highlights from the last edition. In March 2015, Ivo Dimchev concluded the festival with a one-off performance of Operville. Dimchev had dreamt of writing an opera for a long time. This made perfect sense, as his entire oeuvre is infused with his passion for music. Anyone who has previously seen him at work will undoubtedly remember radical improvisations, with his muscular body and slender falsetto voice used as instruments. As a singer, he moves seamlessly from one emotional state to another, from rock star to prima donna.
In Operville, the three singers/performers create a succession of intriguing tableaux vivants. A stream of consciousness by Dimchev simultaneously appears on the rear wall. By comparison to the abstract poses and incomprehensible sung language on stage, these texts are surprisingly specific and intimate. This is Ivo Dimchev in action: he harnesses the power of the voice, extreme theatricality and a whole arsenal of temperament, and goes in search of what opera is and can be.
text, vocal scores, choreography Ivo Dimchev | performance, improvisation Plamena Girginova, Nickolay Voynov, Ivo Dimchev | recorded music Chopin, Stephan Hristov and others | premiered at Kaaitheater 28 March 2015 at Performatik festival | co-production Kaaitheater, Humarts Foundation
Boekvoorstelling na de voorstelling, samen met Pieter T’Jonck.
