D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER (2022)
Cherish Menzo & GRIP & Frascati Producties
Body can you become hypothetical, a galaxy, in full gear acceleration, a liquid star monster, failing to die?
In DARKMATTER, Cherish Menzo and her onstage partner Camilo Mejía Cortés look for ways to detach their bodies from the way they are perceived and the daily reality in which they move. Among other things, they look up to the sky, at dark matter and at black holes that meet and collide to give birth to a new, (afro)futuristic and enigmatic body. DARKMATTER wants to get rid of the biased way of looking at one’s own body, at that of the other, and at the stories we attribute to them. Together, they throw their bodies into a complex conversation that they want to both enter into and transcend – a duality that feeds the performance.
Just as in her previous project, JEZEBEL, Menzo stretches her movement language further by applying the Chopped and Screwed method to her movement language. A remix technique from hip-hop music in which the tempo is sharply reduced. By stretching the notions of time, the register changes and the performing body manages to generate new readings.
D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER wants to create a thorough reshuffle of our atoms, looking for a new form for – and way of looking at – our body and the complex outside world to which it relates.
‘This performance makes you rabidly want to see everything from – and know about – Cherish Menzo […]. She blurs lines, makes our eyes bulge. She is fascinating in her thinking and in its translation to the stage. To follow very, very closely.’ – Amélie Blaustein Niddam, Toute La Culture, 14 may 2022
‘The somewhat abstract accumulation of (pop) cultural approaches to the black community thus seems primarily a toss-up about how the lived materiality of black bodies, in the face of a temporal unruliness parallel to the scratching of a record, can break up the darkness of a dark past.’ – Tessa Vannieuwenhuyze, Etcetera, 15 may 2022
‘Cherish Menzo and Camilo Mejia Cortés are impressive from start to finish, with their presence, their gestures, their looks, the way they stand on stage and their mastery of flow every time the poetic rap makes its appearance.’ – Jean-Marie Wynants, Le Soir, 15 may 2022
‘D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER is a punky performance, a trip full of mystery and symbolism. Dark in its consequence, light at the end of the tunnel.’ – Moos van den Broek, Theaterkrant, 16 may 2022
‘Whether teetering on their stiletto latex boots or slipping naked through black paint, the duo surprises with powerful images after each blackout. Thanks to the bold lighting design, chilling soundtrack and haunting rap songs that Menzo and Cortés spit out live, Darkmatter becomes not only a fascinating descent into the heart of the darkness that lurks within us all, but also a poetic critique of representation that celebrates the richness of being black.’ ★★★★ – Charlotte De Somviele, De Standaard, 16 may 2022
CREDITS
PREMIERE 12-15 May 2022, Beursschouwburg/Kunstenfestivaldesarts Brussels CONCEPT AND CHOREOGRAPHY: Cherish Menzo
CREATION AND PERFORMANCE: Camilo Mejía Cortés, Cherish Menzo
LIGHTING DESIGN: Niels Runderkamp
MUSICAL COMPOSITION: Gagi Petrovic, Michael Nunes
MASTERING: Gagi Petrovic
MUSIC LIST: via www.grip.house or www.frascatitheater.nl
SCENOGRAPHY: Morgana Machado Marques
COSTUME DESIGN: JustTatty.com
DRAMATURGY: Renée Copraij, Benjamin Kahn
TEXT: Cherish Menzo, Camilo Mejía Cortés, BOИSU, Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong
VOCAL AND DELIVERY COACHING: BOИSU, Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong
ARTISTIC ADVICE: Christian Yav, Nicole Geertruida
VOICES DISTORTED RAP CHOIR: via www.distortedrapchoir.com
WITH REFERENCES TO AND FRAGMENTS OF:
– Act I of the American Opera ‘Troubled Island’ by William Grant Still (1949) – ‘BLACKSPACE: ON THE POETICS OF AN AFROFUTURE’
– ‘The Mask’ by Paul Laurens Dunbar
– Choreography from the Missy Elliot’s video clips ‘Throw it back’ (2019). (If you are the choreographer or the rights holder, please contact GRIP so that we can mention you correctly.)
– The Mythology of the American electronic music duo Drexciya
TECHNICIANS: Niels Runderkamp, Amber Stallenberg/ Sander Cools
PRODUCTION: GRIP, Frascati Producties
INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION: A Propic – Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent, Lara van Lookeren
COPRODUCTION: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, BE), CCN-Ballet national de Marseille dans le cadre de l’accueil studio / Ministère de la Culture (FR), actoral festival (Marseille, FR), STUK (Leuven, BE), La Villette (Paris, FR), Festival d’Automne à Paris (FR), Beursschouwburg (Brussels, BE), De Coproducers (NL), Perpodium (BE)
RESIDENCIERS: STUK (Leuven, BE), La Villette (Paris, FR), Frascati (Amsterdam, NL), Beursschouwburg (Brussels, BE), CCN-Ballet national de Marseille dans le cadre de l’accueil studio / Ministère de la Culture (FR), Productiehuis Theater Rotterdam (NL)
IN COLLABORATION WITH: Trill (Leuven, BE), WijzijnDOX (Utrecht, NL)
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: the Flemish Government, The Performing Arts Fund NL, Ammodo, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, Cronos Invest THANKS TO: Eric Cyuzuzo, Jan Fedinger, Dries Douibi, Khadija El Kharraz Alami