Velma Superstar

Velma Superstar

Compagnie Velma, Lausanne

Tuesday 7. Nov. and Wednesday 8. Nov. // 07:30 – 08:45 p.m.
Arena Leipzig

    Musik-Performance

    Beguiling music, flickering disco lights, glaring spotlights … everything that makes a super show is furnished with a virtuoso interconnection and irony. Rituals of music culture, whether in pop or classical concerts, form the material for a play with the expectations.

    »Velma Superstar« is a subtle parody about the mechanisms of event culture. The piece is particularly impressive for the inscrutable humour and the charm of the performers, who are not shy of a large portion of self-mockery. The choir of Leipzig locals has been formed especially for the two performances within this festival and provides something particularly special and unique. The performances have been preceded by an intensive, one-week rehearsal programme.

    The electro-pop band Velma consists of three musicians: Christian Garcia, born in Geneva in 1968, Christophe Jaquet, born in Lausanne in 1964, and Stéphane Vecchione, born in Yverdon-les-Bains in 1971. From the need to combine electronic beats and tonal areas with classical instruments and pop elements, they founded the company, Velma, in 1996. The artists worked together with dancers and choreographers and to date have achieved the productions »Cyclique« (1999), »Applique« (2000) and »Rondo« (2002). Parallel to these, the band also composes film music and gives concerts in clubs.

    »The trio from western Switzerland have a fine ear for those rhythms that are generated by the infinite round dance of cultural idling. Their specific musical theatre – with choir string quartet and band – is based on few sounds, which slowly build into the prayer wheel style urgency of minimal music« (Ueli Bernays, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 23.01.2006).

    Festival Opening

    Uraufführung: 14.10.2005, Grande Salle du Métropole, Lausanne

    Internetseiten der Compagnie: www.velma.ch

    Produktion: Velma, Koproduktion: Theaterhaus Gessnerallee, Zürich / Centre d’art scénique contemporain Arsenic, Lausanne / Forum Freies Theater, Düsseldorf

    Das Gastspiel erfolgt mit freundlicher Unterstützung von Pro Helvetia, Schweizer Kulturstiftung, Zürich.

    Konzept, Inszenierung und Musik: Velma

    Bühnenbild: Jean-Christophe Huguenin, Massimo Furlan

    Kostüme: Tania D’Ambrogio

    Lichtdesign: Laurent Junod

    Choreinstudierung: Diane Decker

    Technische Leitung: Laurent Junod, Serge Perret

    Darsteller und Musiker: Christian Garcia, Jean-Christophe Huguenin, Christophe Jaquet, Arantxa Martinez, Stéphane Vecchione

    Streichquartett: Elodie Steinegger (1. Violine), Olivier Piguet (2. Violine), Guenola Fatout (Viola), Anne-Sophie Ratajczak (Violoncello)

    Chor: ca. 40 Leipziger Bürger

    Archive 2006

    16th festival