OCM and CARU bring you an evening of dance and music inspired by puppetry, myths and visions, Brazilian pianist Késia Decoté with her keen interest in performance art, drama and installation joins forces with Dancer and Choreographer Joëlle Pappas, Music and Soundscape artist Bruno Guastalla and Choreographer and Composer Sarah Westwood to bring you three new pieces themed around human behaviours, cable car rides and puppetry traditions from around the world.

'I am interested in exploring the context of my piano recitals in order to create unique and deeply immersive artistic experiences for my audience.'  Késia Decoté

LOCI

'Tout organisme est une mélodie qui se chante elle-même.' (Maurice Merleau-Ponty) Working together on this piece, the 'places' of the title are not set positions: we inhabit the same space for a while, a space which is resonant and elastic.

Piano: Késia Decoté
Dancer and Choreographer: Joëlle Pappas
Music and Soundscape: Bruno Guastalla

Conceived by Késia Decoté, Joëlle Pappas and Bruno Guastalla

Cable Veins 2016 - Sarah Westwood

Cable Veins was conceived after two moments: 1) watching a dancer/non-pianist playing across a piano before one of our rehearsals at Centre national de la danse, and 2) whilst taking a cable car ride. What struck me in both instances was the amount of movement seen verses the sounds heard; both the dancer and the whirring cogs of the machine making sound yet producing a more intricate movement. This was a quality I wanted to investigate, to create a ‘pianistic cog’ gesture, which in turn would create the sound. All in a meditative state.

Traits

Traits explores the attitudes and behaviour of a complex character fervently looking for a sense of coherent identity. It draws inspiration from puppetry traditions from around the world. This piece was commissioned by Dancin’Oxford and the Pegasus Theatre for Moving With The Times, 2018.

Conceived by Joëlle Pappas and Bruno Guastalla

Myths and Visions

Myths and Visions was originally conceived as part of Késia Decoté’s doctoral research at Oxford Brookes University. It combines piano performance with dance, offering an alternate experience of a classical music recital. 

Tickets: £10 / £8 (early bird booking – until 26 May)

Doors 7pm, Show 7.30pm