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'Celestial Sorrow': The ghosts of past unfinished business
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Despair: 'Celestial Sorrow' premiered at Brussels' Europalia Festival in January last year before making its Indonesian premiere at Salihara. (Komunitas Salihara/Witjak Widhi Cahya)
A
collaboration between Berlin-based choreographer Meg Stuart and Yogyakarta artist Jompet Kuswidananto turned grief into an artistic expression for the senses.
First premiering at the Europalia Festival in Brussels in January last year, Celestial Sorrow made its Indonesian premiere recently for a two-day show at the Salihara art community center in South Jakarta on Sept. 7 and 8.
Celestial Sorrow combined dance, vocals, live music and lightshow in an experience that played with the senses, making it feel like a part installation-part performance art showcase.
Audience members walking into the venue would first see the installation part, which consisted of numerous light bulbs suspended from the ceiling, bright enough to illuminate but dim enough to set the tone.
Five people were involved in the performance; three performers and two musicians.
The three performers –– Jule Flierl, Gaëtan Rusquet and Claire Vivianne Sobottke –– turned around ever so slowly during the beginning, as if they were scanning the audience.
Gradually the lights dimmed, and the smell of incense started to permeate the air, evoking a sense of mystery and a hint of the otherworldly. Perhaps, it was this connection that could be made, the incense, the hums and gasps that one would associate with temples and the celestial beings watching over them.
