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4 SEASONS

 

Nominated for a ZWAAN as best dance production in 2013

 

Première: 02 February 2013

Tour: Fall 2013 - Spring 2014

Reprise Tour: Fall 2015

 

Music: "Le Quattro Stagioni" - A. Vivaldi

Dancers: Samir Calixto, Irena Misirlic (2013)/

Karyn Benquet (2013-14)/ Ewa Sikorska (2015)

Light Design: Bas Vissers

Costume Design: Jookje Zweedijk

Sound Design : Harmen Straatman

Produced by Korzo Producties

 

4 Seasons follows up Calixto’s investigation over themes like impermanence and transformation while approaching milestones of the classical music repertoire.  By diving into the vivid and timeless essence of Vivaldi’s masterpiece, the choreography traces a parallel between the notion of seasons and the ages of mankind –   the dawn and crepuscule of civilization according to many ancient philosophies. Here two dancers are challenged to incorporate these ideas while dealing with the music striking forces. The result is a choreography in which the lavishness of the baroque composition offers a counterpoint to the collective sense of emptiness of recent times.

 

 

From the press:

 

"Calixto's dance language is at first very technical. It aims at perfection and every movement is extremely clean and controled. (...) Turns, jumps, sensual pelvis movements, long lines drawn by their fluid limns; the audience is overwhelmed by so much beauty.

Dance Europe Magazine

 

 

"An exciting dialogue also between music and dance, because once the music speeds up the dancers hold their steps, to catch up their movements again as if  the music composition turned within itself."

Theaterkrant.nl

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“Terrifyingly beautiful”

Danspubliek.nl

 

 

“Calixto, however, chooses to let the dance tell its own story; this results in a wonderful combination of dance, music, and imagery (…) These moments, also thanks to the expressive execution, often cause you to hold your breath (…) a perfect balance between dance technique and expression.”

Cultuurbewust.nl

 

 

 

Jury Report/ Swan nomination ‘Most Impressive Dance Production’ 2013: 

 

“A duet to The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. A daring choice, but a very successful one. The dance technique and expressive body language are completely in balance here. This results in a distinctive and varied dance style. Calixto constantly surprises in his composition of 4 Seasons. The dancer’s emotions range through a complete seasonal cycle as they would in a relationship.”

 

 

 

Enduring the human seasons – searching for the lost gold.

text by Samir Calixto

 

Cycles seem to define the rhythm of every life form, as nature tirelessly repeats its processes of birth and death through the course of time. Ancient cultures believed that the seasons were reflected not only on that which is visible, but also served as a metaphor for transformational processes in the path of every living thing - including the human race. Hindu, Greek, Mayan and other civilizations believed that mankind, just like the seasons, crosses long cycles between its peak and its decline. For instance, Hesiod talks in his Works and Days about the “ages of man”, and associates these periods to metals: gold, silver, bronze and iron, the first being the highest point on man’s transformational rank. In spite of these old beliefs, most modern civilizations tend to ignore that they are undeniably linked to the strides of nature, and seem to march oblivious throughout their own evolutional process.

This relation between man and the compass of nature has been an endless source of inspiration for artists through centuries, but few works capture this connection as vividly as Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. This music - a masterpiece massively exploited in commercials, films, etc - was once considered ground breaking. It included on its manuscript a set of seasonal sonnets which would accompany each musical line (probably written by Vivaldi himself) and presented an almost unprecedented connection between imagination, musical gestures and narrative dimension.

In fact, few works remain as cherished as this one, and it is exactly in its timelessness and universality where the core of this choreography lies. Here, supported by the music’s power, I sustain my conviction that no form of life is immune to change – as there is no joy in spring without the trials of winter. After the failure of last year’s apocalyptical predictions we might as well believe that, instead the absolute end, we approach the closure of a cycle, maybe moving again from the rusty realms of iron towards the first glimpses of a golden era. Only time will tell.

Dance is the vehicle chosen here to explore this subject and, as an ever changing art form, it has the power to embody this life journey. The enduring exercise of existence is re-enacted by the very confrontation between music and movement. In this piece we express the wish to access an energy which is primordial, sharing the fruits of our intense experience.

Tonight I invite you to plunge into our view over Vivaldi’s pure expression of nature’s manifestations, from the tiniest organisms to the great invisible – an ode to life’s implacable sense of impermanence.