OE Coproduction

Resist/Evolve looks at the limits of our bodies and minds through our primal instinct to survive, to resist in conditions of adversity. Using special breathing techniques, Dan Kinzelman creates uninterrupted soundscapes based on frequencies in a single saxophone note. During the first ten minutes of the performance the artist approaches his physical limit, which he subsequently ties to keep, pushing the limit of both physical and mental resistance and trying to balance the rules he has prepared, his ability to concentrate and the physical abilities of his body as he interacts with the tool. The sound is only disrupted when this balance can no longer be kept.

Choreography and dance Baptiste Cazaux
Music Être Peintre
Co-producers La Bâtie – festival de Genève, Théâtre Sévelin 36, KLAP – Maison pour la danse
Sound Gaspard Perdrisat
Lights Justine Bouillet
Assistant Lisa Laurent
Dramaturgy Johanna Hilari
Production and diffusion CH Yamina Pilli / oh la la - performing arts production
international diffusion Rue Branly – Quentin Legrand
Developed through Réseau Grand Luxe, Danse & Dramaturgie
With the support of Ernst Goehner Stiftung, SSA (Société Suisse des Auteurs), Pro Helvetia, CND 

GIMME A BREAK!!! is a quest for catharsis. Borrowing from the vocabulary of rave music, meditative practices and headbanging, Baptiste Cazaux continues his research into emotional peace and detachment, which he sees as a survival strategy in the face of capitalism. In a duet with loudspeakers, the choreographer composes a deregulated space-time, full of complexities and contradictions, in search of a vital and necessary impulse.
« Motivated by the feeling of helplessness, GIMME A BREAK!!! is rooted in my experience of depression during the various episodes of isolation in recent years. During these periods, I began to develop a DJ practice which helped me greatly. This made me realize the importance of music in my life and the place I wanted to give it in my artistic practice. DJing was a way for me, during the lockdowns, to stay creative and let off steam because I couldn't create shows or be in a studio. At the time, this practice was a way to feel intense emotions while the world was on pause and to find the epiphanies necessary in order to continue creating. Alongside my DJ practice, I discovered mindfulness meditation, which also helped me center myself and bring me back to the present moment. It was a way to calm myself down, to reconnect with my body and my sensations. These two processes continue to follow me today. GIMME A BREAK!!! is a continuation of meditation on pretty fast music (2021), a solo performance which takes the narrative form of a guided meditation, quickly distorted by a moment of hardcore dance. The two pieces placed in parallel put opposing entities in tension: hardcore physical practices devoid of inhibition, such as headbanging, with meditation, an esoteric and introspective technique, recovered by the Western capitalist system by appropriating Zen aesthetics, to better support and undergo this same system. »

After studying classical dance in Biarritz, Baptiste Cazaux joined the Junior Ballet Geneva in 2015 under the direction of Sean Wood and Patrice Delay. Within the company, he performed in productions created by internationally renowned choreographers such as Olivier Dubois, Barak Marshall, Roy Assaf, Sharon Eyal and Thomas Hauert.
Currently a professional dancer and choreographer, he works in Switzerland and Belgium with fellow choreographers, such as József Trefeli, Perrine Valli, Jan Martens and Ayelen Parolin. He presents his work in various Swiss and international theatres and festivals. Since the 2020/2021 season he has been an associate artist at L’Abri (Geneva, CH) and the Théâtre Sévelin 36, and is supported by the Réseau Grand Luxe. In July 2022 he took part in the ATLAS programme of the Impulstanz festival thanks to the support of Pro Helvetia. During the 2022/2023 season he was taking part in the Artistes en expérimentation programme at the CND - Centre National de la Danse in Lyon for the creation of his show GIMME A BREAK !!!.
Baptiste Cazaux also performs as a DJ under the alias Glaire Waldork.

Coproduction OE - National Premiere

Music by Marta Del Grandi and Federica Furlani

Movement study and dance by Camilla Monga

Images and animations by Cecilia Valagussa

co-production VAN and Operaestate

Mata Hari is a project born from the collaboration between four young Italian artists and the meeting of their artistic sensibilities and disciplines. Combining the collaboration of Marta Del Grandi and CeciliaValagussa in Fossick Project and the long-standing artistic partnership between Camilla Monga and Federica Furlani, this multidisciplinary group is born in which each one puts its strong identity at the service of storytelling and beauty.
The project takes inspiration from the book 'Inferno Color' by Cecilia Valagussa and Ariel Macchi, graphic novel in which nine artists who lost their lives during the First World War are told. The only female presence among these is the dancer Mata Hari, a pioneering and enigmatic figure, as unique and innovative as little celebrated in the history books and in the common memory.
With this show Del Grandi/Furlani/Monga/Valagussa want to pay tribute to this revolutionary artist and contribute to the rediscovery of her memory and her artistic and historical-social value. The four artists are authors and performers of the show and all appear on stage to represent the thousand faces of Mata Hari. Dance, music and image embody different aspects of her complex personality, creating a multifaceted portrait that highlights the essence of this iconic figure in a sensory and engaging way.

Marta Del Grandi (1988) is a musician, singer-songwriter and producer with many international collaborations. Her latest album 'Selva' (2023, Fire Records) was enthusiastically received by the Italian and foreign press, engaging her in a tour in Italy, Europe and the UK throughout 2024. Since 2016 she has been part of the audiovisual duo Fossick Project with Cecilia Valagussa.

Federica Furlani (1988) is a musician graduated in viola and electronic music. She works as sound designer and composer for theatre and dance with important institutions such as the Venice Biennale, Piccolo Teatro and Triennale di Milano, LAC di Lugano, Teatro Stabile di Torino. As a violist he played for Einsturzende Neubauten, Blonde Redhead, Baustelle, Le Luci della Centrale Elettrica and others.

Camilla Monga (1987) is recognized as one of the most interesting choreographers of her generation on the contemporary scene. She focuses her choreographic research on musical and choreographic composition. In 2023 she is the only Italian choreographer selected for Aerowaves. Her works have been presented in important contexts such as the Venice Biennale, Triennale di Milano, CND Paris, Dance Umbrella London, ICK Amsterdam, Equilibrio Roma, PARTS Bruxelles (...).

Cecilia Valagussa (1989) is an Italian artist who works with comics, illustration, animation and performance. She is the author of four graphic novels published in France, Belgium and Italy, her new book is expected to be released in 2024. Her comics have appeared in several international magazines. She currently lives in Bologna and works at the Checkpoint Charly atelier, in the Nube Lab graphics laboratory. Since 2016 she has been part of the audiovisual duo Fossick Project with Marta Del Grandi.

Produced by Manuel Volpe,
Lyrics and music by Massimo Silverio
Arrangements by Manuel Volpe, Massimo Silverio, Nicholas Remondino, Leo Virgili.
Recorded, Mixed, Mastered by Manuel Volpe @ Rubedo Recordings, Turin between April and
November 2022.
Artwork and design by Vieri Cervelli Montel
personnel
Massimo Silverio: voice, guitar, bass, cello, guzla
Nicholas Remondino: prepared percussion, synthesizers, voice, sampler
Manuel Volpe: bass, organ, keyboards
album made with the contribution of  NUOVOIMAIE

Massimo Silverio, born in 1992, is an author and musician who writes and sings in cjarniel, a minority language of the Carnic Alps. Between the charm of the borderland and the tradition of an ancient idiom, Silverio forms his very personal language, a mix between classic and contemporary. "Hrudja" is the Lombard ancestor of the word "Grusa", that in Friulian indicates the crust of a healing wound, metaphor of rebirth, but also memory of something that is disappearing.

TRACK by TRACK
Šchena = “schiena” - is the Father, the severity
Criure = “freddo arido”- The frost and love that make death feel
Jevâ = “ergersi, svegliarsi” - the ruthless and painful return to reality
Colâ = “cadere, crollare” - the dream, the symbol, the enigma

Nijò = “in nessun luogo”- memory
Grusa = crust, wound - the end, loss
Šcune = "cradle"- the warmth and love that inhabits the stars
Piel = "skin"- light, love
Algò = "somewhere"- the future
(Grim) = "womb"- is the Mother, the sweetness