Threads of unity: the transcultural tapestry of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s contemporary dance and theatrical production “Sutra”

Abstract

The article deals with the transcultural connections in choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, artist Antony Gormley, and composer Szymon Brzóska’s production “Sutra”, the main character of which tries to study Chinese martial arts, Buddhism and share European culture with them. scientific research contributes to developing the multidisciplinary research of modern choreography in general. The importance of research is determined by filling the gap that exists in scientific research of “Sutra”. The purpose of the study is to study the points of intersection of European and Eastern culture in the “choreographic score”, sets and music. This goal implies studying the following sub-problems: to establish the relationship between the symbolic choreographic language of the “Sutra” and Chinese painting; to research the fusion of elements of ancient Chinese martial arts and avant-garde choreography; to investigate how the main character of the spectacle modernizes the choreography language with techniques of ancient martial arts. The research, undertaken from a historical perspective, encompasses descriptive, comparative, and critical scientific analysis methods. The research is based on the choreographic production itself and media reviews. Based on the set goals, the process of analysis will be conducted in two phases: (1) determining the main idea and goal of the production. An exploration of how the main character tries to study Eastern culture, and martial arts philosophy; (2) to study how the authors of the play reflected the differences and coincidences between Western and Eastern cultures in the choreographic narrative. It is the research on these issues that constitutes the scientific novelty of the article. In the conclusions, it is emphasized that the performance combines European choreography, and scenography, with the features of Chinese painting and martial arts. It is determined that the European traveller tries to harmoniously combine oriental martial arts and European choreography. Sets and music play a huge role in conveying the idea of intercultural connections. Brzóska expressed the poetics of martial arts with romantic music while the fighting spirit of monks with minimalist music. Considering the findings and results obtained in the research, this masterpiece of choreography is recommended to be included in courses on the history of dance and choreography.

Keywords

• Avant-garde choreography
• Chinese monochrome painting
• minimalism
• Buddhism
• intercultural connections
• expanded tonality.

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