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In 1917 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes presented Stravinsky’s “Fireworks” as conceived by the Italian futurist Giacomo Balla as a “ballet without dancers” where the scenic elements consisted purely of geometric shapes with modern lighting effects on them to incarnate the music visually and in three dimensions onstage. The legend of this piece, and other genre busting experiments in music in movement like it, such as Alexander Calder’s staging of Satie’s “Socrate” or Loie Fuller’s billowing silks, inspired me when in 1998 I created my version of Symphonie Fantastique where shapes and tinsel and bubbles and light danced under water in a 1000 gallon tank of water.
Since that piece and the adventures and musical collaborations and opportunities I’ve had since, I have always wanted to take my abstract puppetry to a much bigger scale, and it never seemed to really happen…that is until Emil Kang invited me to participate in this centennial for the “Rite of Spring”. Emil jumped up enthusiastically when i said " i don't want to do some little puppet show…i want to push the work I’ve been doing to a totally new level…oh, and to do it with a full orchestra!...that’s the way to honor the Rite of Spring!”
This all Stravinsky program (and all pieces presented by the Ballets Russes) is an attempt to do just that: to honor a landmark event in performance. Some of it may not seem like puppetry as most people expect it to be. But it comes from the mind of a puppeteer whose main goal is to bring something to life on stage. I am grateful to Emil and the wonderful orchestra of St. Luke’s and my entire team for joining me in this adventure. Despite the abstraction I intend for each member of the audience to find something meaningful in our own ballet without dancers.
Since that piece and the adventures and musical collaborations and opportunities I’ve had since, I have always wanted to take my abstract puppetry to a much bigger scale, and it never seemed to really happen…that is until Emil Kang invited me to participate in this centennial for the “Rite of Spring”. Emil jumped up enthusiastically when i said " i don't want to do some little puppet show…i want to push the work I’ve been doing to a totally new level…oh, and to do it with a full orchestra!...that’s the way to honor the Rite of Spring!”
This all Stravinsky program (and all pieces presented by the Ballets Russes) is an attempt to do just that: to honor a landmark event in performance. Some of it may not seem like puppetry as most people expect it to be. But it comes from the mind of a puppeteer whose main goal is to bring something to life on stage. I am grateful to Emil and the wonderful orchestra of St. Luke’s and my entire team for joining me in this adventure. Despite the abstraction I intend for each member of the audience to find something meaningful in our own ballet without dancers.
Basil Twist 2013