The Strindberg Project

The conceptions of Swedish literary icon August Strindberg are many. In the spring of 2012, the Cullberg Ballet invited choreographer Tilman O’Donnell and theater director Melanie Mederlind to be inspired by, comment on and grapple with the legacy of August Strindberg. They each created a dance work for a shared evening performance under the heading of The Strindberg Project. The premiere took place on the main stage at Dansens Hus in Stockholm on March 15th, 2012. The Cullberg Ballet met August Strindberg in a new form. Exclusive, unexpected and up close.

Tilman O’Donnell:
“To make someone an icon is to make him an abstraction, and abstractions are incapable
of vital communication with living people.”
– David Foster Wallace (1962-2008)

So Strindberg is dead. The process of abstraction, transformation, and canonization begins: a living artistry is transferred into the cultural consciousness and becomes icon and symbol. The life and work of dead artists often provide societies a vital gauge by which to measure their pressing cultural issues. Strindberg, working in a myriad different artistic mediums
throughout his life, provides a striking example of this.

Yet one hundred years since his death, Strindberg’s name, artistry, and work now floats somewhere between vital art and brand. Ideological and economic industries form around icons. Experts and institutions translate and uphold ideology and iconography, in turn feeding industry. Within the majority of cultures in the world, something seems to compel us to transform dead artists into monuments. Is Wallace’s assertion true? If so, to what degree? Do we need icons? If so, what role do they play? What can a dead body say? What kind of iconography to we carry in our own bodies?

Melanie Mederlind:

In the last years of his life, Strindberg largely abandoned fiction and devoted himself to trying to master the Chinese language. “Now the Chinese are coming, maybe it’s time to learn their language!” he exclaims in one of his texts. The published results of Strindberg’s linguistic studies have been judged by both linguists of the time and posterity, but they are the result of a huge investment by Sweden’s greatest authors and show evidence of his dizzying ability to associate words and ideas. In the form of a stylized language lesson,

Strindberg’s free association paths and bridges of thought become the starting point for director Melanie Mederlind and the dancers’ investigation of language. We listen, repeat and translate. From the incomprehensible, suddenly something beautiful and fragile emerges that we can all understand and share. The multilingual ensemble is swept in by echoes and projections, words and images mixed with memories and fantasies. The language bounces against an ever-changing idea of ​​China from the past and from the future – as landscape, dream and poem. 2012 marked one hundred years since August Strindberg passed away and the year was marked by a number of activities, both in Sweden and abroad, which were based on Strindberg’s artistic work in various artistic arenas.

Press Quotes:
“… humorous and effective …” Aftonbladet”… playfulness and humor.” Svenska Dagbladet
“… strikingly beautiful and thought provoking meditations …” Dagens Nyheter
“a lisa” Dagens Nyheter

See rehearsal video here

See video interview with the dancers here

August did not have what is commonly considered good taste as far as furniture is concerned

Direction: Tilman O’Donnell
Music: Yusef Lateef: Bamboo Flute Blues (Kid Koala Remix)
Set Design: Tilman O’Donnell, Thomas Zamolo
Light Design: Thomas Zamolo
Sound Design: Mårten Ihre
Costume: Tilman O’Donnell
Make up: Anna Olofson
Choreography Assistant: Cyril Baldy
Text: Letters of Strindberg to Harriet Bosse översättning: Arvid Paulson
Rehearsal Director: Thomas Zamolo

Premiere: 2012
Duration: 50 min
A collaboration with: Festspielhaus St Pölten, Österrike

Translations

Direction: Melanie Mederlind
Music: Angel ur Kalmukia, Julián Molina: El Mandarin, Antonio Vivaldi: Allegro molto, Röster ur filmen: La Chinoise, Jean-Luc Godard, Bowie/Osterberg: China girl, Specialinspelad instrumentalversion av Anna Ternheims arrangemang, producent Andreas Dahlbäck
Set Design: Melanie Mederlind
Sound Design: Mårten Ihre
Costume: Ulrika van Gelder
Choreography Assistant: Lisa Drake
Dramaturg: Melanie Mederlind, Marc Matthiesen
Video Technician: Niclas Molin
Text: Culture historical studies and linguistic texts, August Strindberg, La Chinoise, Jean-Luc Godard, Nordanvinden, Sångernas bok translated by: James Legge, Beginner´s Chinese, Elizabeth Scurfield
Voice and singing: Karin Sax
Rehearsal Director: Lisa Drake
Cha-cha-cha Instructor: Saul Perez Valdes

Premiere: 2012
Duration: 50 min
A collaboration with: Festspielhaus St Pölten, Österrike