Folies

(2016) 

dancer, soprano, bass clarinet and ensemble

Description

a piece of music theatre

Music composed by Jenny Jackson 

Choreography: Hannah Wadsworth 

The selected text is taken from a poem by the Italian Futurist poet Aldo Palazzeschi; E Lasciatemi Divertire! (Let Me Amuse You!) which explores the nature of what it is to be a ‘creator’, and the conflict between artistic freedom on the one hand, and the oppression of (perceived) criticism and judgement on the other. The original poem contains many nonsensical words which implies the collapse of sense but the words begin to suggest their own meaning as we try to interpret the inflections and phonetic sounds (“it’s like when someone gets to singing without really knowing the words”). The piece demonstrates how fine the line is between artistic freedom and madness: one is fun, and acceptable to society, and the other is worrying, perplexing and traumatic for others to observe.