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PARADISE LOST

 

Première (Short Version for the BNG Bank 50 Years Jubileum): 14 November 2014

Première (Full Length): January 2015 - Cadance Festival

Tour: Spring/ Summer 2015

 

Music: Kate Moore - 'No Man's Land' (Original Composition, specially recorded by the Cello Octet Amsterdam)

A. Knaifel - 'Amicta Sole' (excerpt)

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Dancers: Quentin Roger, Ewa Sikorska, Samir Calixto

Light Design: Pavla Beranova

Sound Design : Harmen Straatman

Produced by Korzo Producties/ BNG Cultuurfonds

 

Paradise Lost, written by John Milton and first published in 1667, is a controversial poem that revolves around the myth of creation. Through its twelve parts, the author depicts the story of the Fall of mankind and the banishment from Paradise. Since its publication Milton’s haunting delineation of Eden has become part of our collective subconscious.

Opposites are the bulldozers in Paradise Lost, being the antagonism between Light and Darkness one of its strongest defining forces. The poet uses it to express all of the other opposites: good and evil; knowledge and ignorance; heaven and hell.

In this project, the idea of our never-ending subjection to invisible forces (be them spiritual or scientific) and the timeless relation between myth and contemporary reality gains a center stage. This new performance aims for the creation of a mythic space where the archetypes of mankind find their way from the purified state in Eden to the birth of human nature such as we know.

 

 

 

FROM THE PRESS:

 

"(...) the symbiosis between the choreography, the music and the lighting design is spectacular. The three dancers offer an incredible show. Their commitment to both physical and emotional layers of the choreography is impressive. The movements are powerful, technical, but they retain a sense of vulnerability. (...) Paradise Lost is an important step for this young maker. Calixto proved once again to have the talent that it takes to become a powerful name in the modern dance scene."

Dance Europe Magazine

 

"Paradise Lost characterizes complete lack of props; the bodies, light design, and intense musical composition by Kate Moore (significantly entitled No Man's Land) being the aggregated carrier of meaning. The choreography has been polished to perfection. The trio's dance is first and foremost a forceful modern composition teeming with jumps and throws. The dancers' shapes bring up pictorial inspirations as the choreographer precisely arranges the actors on stage. Each and every element of the show is carefully thought through and impressively executed. The need for primeval beauty has been ingeniously expressed with the performance aesthetics. Calixto is acutely aware of the complex function of light, which he employs as yet another actor. He does not build on simple contrasts but creates a visual and sensual spectacle which conceals the mystery of creation."

Taniec Polska/ Dance Poland

 

 

"This incredibly muscled choreographer opens the trio himself very strongly (...) Calixto's motion (remains) beautiful to see: the fleeing diagonals, the impulses from long, flexible arms and the pounding breathing."

De Volkskrant

 

"In half darkness Lucifer is born, a roll from Calixto himself. Beautiful how his tattooed black wings go waving; a shivering beast which as a phoenix resurges from the dark. As Adam and Eve roam through that darkness, Lucifer walks literally as their reflection. In search of Paradise man is confronted with all his (im)perfections. Guilt, lust, enticement, and finally acceptance after the banishment -  few of the human conditions which here come to the limelight."

Trouw

 

"Danced beautifully, sometimes oppressive and sometimes touching."

Cultureelpersbureau.nl

 

 

"Visually strong is also Paradise Lost by Samir Calixto. The choreographer, who dances Lucifer himself, follows Milton's poem over the fall in a 'legible' manner, with all its stages, from harmony and lust to violence, fear and shame. "

NRC Handelsblad