Pierrot 2007-2009
Pierrot project 2007 -2009. Ana Barbour and Malcolm Atkins
Some images (Peter Green) from filmed improvisations for Dispatx arts website commission. ‘ Looney Toons and Silent moves’ 2007
This was developed through rehearsal and performance in to
Pierrot –a Moonbeam Locked up
A 40 minute piece of dance theatre and live music based on the tragi comic figure of Pierrot and the cycle of surreal poems by Giraud/Hartleben used by Schoenburg in his seminal work ‘Pierrot Lunaire’.
‘Pierrot –a moonbeam locked up’ is a distinctive contemporary work which balances fixed composition and choreography with a structure that also allows for improvisation in the moment –by both musician and dancer.
The music is played live –keyboards, violin, melodica and voice and passed through electronic loops which enables the one performer to build up an amazing array of layers. This particular combination is unique to Malcolm’s practice.
The dance incorporates physical theatre, the use of props and film and references to images in the visual arts.
The piece followed Giraud’s three part scheme themed around the lovesick clown, religion and blasphemy, and homecoming. Like the poems there are surprising and disconcerting changes of mood and character.