Songs of Sorrow draws strongly upon the disciplines of mime, classical ballet, clowning, contemporary dance and drama whilst being none of these things entirely. The piece draws upon the choreographer's obsession with movement and the search for a place between movement and dance. There are sections of the piece which are dance, other sections purely functional movement and then there are other sections….
Songs of Sorrow allows for an experimental approach to a performance whilst still being entertaining and visually captivating and beautiful. The title of the piece comes from Gorecki's Symphony No. 3, 'Sorrowful Songs,' which had a profound effect on the development of the performance. Dvorak's Song to the Moon is also used to express the sorrow of Pierrot. The sense of sorrow in the piece is made more poignant by the contrasting opening of joy and energy, using music from Delibes' Coppelia.
The performers have varying degrees of physical ability with only one of the three members having had full time vocational dance training. The choreographer is interested in the way an actor takes on choreography and the interaction between performers of different disciplines. The three characters of the dancer, the actor and the pierrot clown in Songs of Sorrow emerged through playing to the strengths of the performers. We want to unify those different artistic disciplines. The aim is to create a sensuous experience for the spectator that engages more than just the intellect.
Choreographer: Rhiannon Brace.
Dancers: Nicola Higgins, Adam Speers Cukrowski and Rhiannon Brace.
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