Duration : 2 hours
Holding Present
Holding Present is an event imagined by the Brussels-based ensemble Ictus and the choreographer Ula Sikle, where the division of labor between dancers and musicians, performers and audience, becomes blurred.
Musical instruments break out of the field of traditional lutherie: they become autonomous sound objects, sometimes conjuring up protests. It is literally a question of "occupying space".
Inspired by political gatherings both visually and sonically, this performance observes how an individual gesture leads to the power of a collective action. Holding Present entangles existing compositions and creations.
What does Holding Present ultimately mean—this alert, grasping the present—when it is played out in a cultural institution.? Ula Sickle and Ictus define their injunction as the creation of a collective space and a common construction.
French Premiere
Ula Sickle concept, choreography
Tom Pauwels (Ictus) concept, musical direction
Alvin Lucier, Pauline Oliveros, Stellan Veloce, Didem Coşkunseven (commissioned by Ictus and Ircam-Centre Pompidou) composition
Augustin Muller IRCAM electronics (for Didem Coşkunseven's play)
Sylvain Cadars IRCAM sound diffusion
Gert Aertsen new instruments
Amanda BarrioCharmelo, Marina Delicado, Marie Goudot, Ruben Martinez Orio, Michael Schmid, Mohamed Toukabri, Tom Pauwels, Ula Sickle creation and performance
Ofer Smilansky ligts and sound
Richard Venlet scenography
Wang Consulting costumes
Persis Bekkering dramatugry assistance
With the support of Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government and Conseil des arts du Canada.
