Les Fêtes de Paphos is a baroque opera/ ballet by J – J Mondonville (1711- 1770). It was written during the late baroque and is characterized by the fast changes of moods and scenes.
The work is a pastiche opera structured around two other operas, by Mondonville, Bacchus et Erigone and Vénus et Adonis. In «Les fêtes” Mondonville also employs the myth of Cupid and Psyche. The title of the opera suggests a unifying ground, the land of Paphos, where the three myths unfold. Under the premise of an encounter of Venus, Bacchus and Cupid in Paphos, the birthplace of Aphrodite, the three Gods decide to celebrate their first loves and this gives rise to the three acts.
The research began in the context of “Terpsichore”, a dance research programme, supported by the cultural services. Taking as a departure point Mondonville’s opera the performers wanted to explore the ways in which a baroque opera, with clear references to ancient Greek myths, can inspire contemporary choreographic material.
The research covered several areas, which were analyzed in this programme. The research, eventually, took the form an exploration map. This was aided by the collaboration with Alexandra Waierstall, who gave a work shop on Open Form Composotion.
The performance had evolved around the following chapters:
1) Entrées
2) Land of Paphos
3) Cupid – Eros (the myth)
4) Falling
5) The underworld – the Opera
6) The feast
Performers
Petros Konnaris: Petros, Bacchus, Aris, Boreas, Tisiphone
Aneesha Michael: Aneesha , Psyche, Flora
Panagiotis Tofi : Panagiotis, Adonis, Cupid, Pan, Zephyros
Joanna Kordatou: Ioanna, Afrodite, Amfivolia-doubt- Sister of Psyche
Jessica Argyridou: Jessica, Afrodite Paphia, Inconstancy
CHORUS ( Crowd, Graces, Furies ,Demons) Andria Zeniou, Georgia Andreou, Joanna Kordatou, Nadia Mowafy, Jessica Argyridou, Petros Konnaris , Panagiotis Tofi
Voice/ Texts: Joanna Kordatou, Nadia Mowafy, Andria Zeniou
Selection of Texts from Libretto : Maria Karolidou
The performance: Direction/ Choreography
The direction and choreographic form of the performance, as a research project, used methods from the Open Form Composition, the methods of Deconstruction and the Brechtian Theatre Techniques, with an emphasis on creating a structure for dialogue between the present moment and the past (memory). Here the work involved working with compositional forms and improvisational forms and also incorporated the use of chance within the performance. The group was trained and worked together on the principles of an ensemble, creating a living organism, where the performers act and react to each other, with constant reference to space and time, as an attempt to allow for the present moment to unfold. The workshop led by Alexandra Waierstall, in March 2015, on Open Form Composition, has significantly facilitated this aim.
The performance unfolded in the present time, via a dialogue between the present and the past (memory - memory of the process and memory of the set material and structured movement coming from the characters from the various myths which they embody). A group of performers have worked with Arianna Economou individually toward creating authentic material coming from them on archetypes involved in the myths such as Eros and Psyche.
Click here to watch the Video on Vimeo. Password for the video: jasper
