Emerging Pictures: Vasco Rossi isn’t exactly someone who most people would associate with “high art.” His sex, drugs and rock-n-roll lifestyle, paired with his racist, misogynist and xenophobic lyrics, make him an unlikely candidate for anything more than a grumpy, late-night bender.
2 comments:
I think this is really funny because although reading the translation of these lyrics reveals how nasty the songs are, the main audience who is going to ultimately be seeing the choreographed dance will not understand that. To someone who doesn't know Italian the songs sound lovely and romantic, since most everyone has that association with hearing the Italian language. It's sort of like a secret between the dancers and the choreographer, which helps to inform but is not neccessarily apparent.
Listening to Martha Clarke speak you wouldn't guess that her themes most often dark sexuality and that she was electing to make art to Vasco Rossi. But watching the video of her in action made it clear how deep her understanding was of that level of physical storytelling. Also, I thought that what she said about "directing dancers and choreographing actors" was very interesting, that she would more advise the dancers of their emotional path and effectively let them create their own movements.
Rossi’s lyrics may be rather graphic and crude, but they are undeniably accurate. People rarely have particularly nice thoughts about the competing party when they fail in matters of love and sex. Additionally, as Reilly points out, the audience will likely not know what Rossi’s songs are actually saying, believing them to be very romantic instead of violent. I am curious how much the actual lyrics of the songs will be informing this piece. Will a translation of the lyrics be playing on a board during the performance like they are at the opera? I doubt it, but that would seriously change the interpretation of the piece.
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