Alpsegen
“Engrossing theater.”
“A gesturally visualized critique without finger pointing.”
In Alpsegen Widrig takes a critical look at his native Switzerland’s role during WWII, how it was trying to balance its desire to appear neutral and benevolent with its inherent protectionism.
Choreography, Text, Performance, Set Design by Patrik Widrig
Music by Swiss folk music and Mahalia Jackson
Set Construction by Bill Ballou
Premiere - Movement Research at Judson Church, New York City, April 1996
Tour Highlights - Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church • Rote Fabrik, Switzerland •Stadttheater St. Gallen, Switzerland • Belluard Bollwerk Festival, Switzerland • Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT • UMass, Amherst, MA
Commissioned by the Danspace Project's 98-99 Commissioning Initiative with funds provided by the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation. Additional support provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Sequoia Foundation
Muezzin
“A spiritual journey blending quickness and lush softness – a Pierrot Lunaire tumbling beneath the moon.”
Muezzin (arabic for ‘the one who calls people to prayer’) explores choreographically and musically the following questions: What is prayer? What does it mean to call? And whom are we calling - ourselves, another, and more specifically, what part of oneself are we calling out to?
Original music Philip Hamilton
Premiere - Movement Research at Judson Church, New York City, April 1996
Tour Highlights - Joyce Theater, NYC • Belluard Bollwerk Festival, Switzerland • Teatro Sociale, Bellinzona, Switzerland • Bates Dance Festival
Commissioned by the 1997 Altogether Different Fund for New Works, sponsored by The Joyce Theater Foundation, with support provided by the Greenwall Foundation, the Overbrook Foundation, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Additional funding provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, the Harkness Foundation, the Sequoia Foundation, Meet the Composer, and Pro Helvetia - the Arts Council of Switzerland.