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Refuse the Hour

William Kentridge, Dada Masilo, Philip Miller, Catherine Meybourgh

Dates

Prices

10 — 28 €

Location

Onassis Stegi

Time & Date

Day
Time
Venue
Day
Thursday-Sunday
Time
20:30
Venue
Main Stage

Information

Tickets

15, 18, 28 €
Concs 10, 12, 15 €

Language

In English with Greek surtitles

A contemporary art master in Greece for the first time making a rare stage appearance in a multimedia theatrical dream about all-subduing Time.

Making his first appearance in Greece, William Kentridge, the leading South African visual artist and director, embarks on an on-stage search for lost Time. A multifaceted genius and one of the most significant artists of our time, he won accolades for his Apartheid-era installations, his ‘primitive’ animations and his multimedia performances. Kentridge is coming to the Onassis Stegi with his latest work, the 'chamber opera' “Refuse the Hour”, a theatrical version of the large-scale installation project “The Refusal of Time” with which he took part in Documenta 13 at Kassel.

He takes the starring role himself, playing a contemporary storyteller who begins his narrative with the myth of Perseus and ends with Einstein, space-time and black holes. Amidst a Dadaist pandemonium of sounds and images, thirteen dancers, musicians, performers and singers accompany him on his journey to the limits of science, ontology and cosmology, combining performance, theatrical rendition, opera, contemporary dance, visual installations and video projections. The playful, philosophically questing spectacle that results is utterly unforgettable.

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William Kentridge’s work has been seen in museums and galleries around the world since the 1990s, including Documenta in Kassel, Germany (1997, 2003), the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1998, 2010), the Albertina Museum in Vienna (2010), Jeu de Paume in Paris (2010). Also in 2010 the Musee du Louvre in Paris presented "Carnets d’Egypte", a project conceived especially for the Egyptian room at the Louvre. In the same year, Kentridge received the prestigious Kyoto Prize in recognition of his contributions in the field of arts and philosophy. In 2011, Kentridge was elected as an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and received the degree of Doctor of Literature honoris causa from the University of London. In 2012, he presented the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard University; was elected member of the American Philosophical Society, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been named as a laureate for the Dan David Prize awarded by Tel Aviv University.

Dada Masilo studied at The Dance Factory, the National School of the Arts, Cape Town’s Jazzart Dance Theatre and at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios in Brussels. She received the 2008 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance. In addition to collaborations with other choreographers, she has created and performed 11 new works including "Romeo and Juliet", "Carmen", "Swan Lake" and "The Bitter End of Rosemary". She has also performed in Tanzania, Mali, Madagascar, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Russia, the UK, the USA, Mexico, Germany, Israel and France. In 2011 was named by daily newspaper "The Star" as one of the Top 100 achievers: `Her technical prowess is only surpassed by her artistic daring and conceptual flair.’

Philip Miller is a South African composer based in Johannesburg. Born in 1964, he first practiced law before establishing a career in music. His work is not easily categorized, often developing out of collaborative projects in theater, film and video. One of his most significant collaborators is the internationally acclaimed artist, William Kentridge. His music to Kentridge’s animated films, and multimedia installations, has been heard in some of the most prestigious museums and galleries all over the world, including MoMA, SFMOMA, The Guggenheim Museums (both New York and Berlin) La Fenice Opera House and the Tate Modern. Out of this collaboration, the live concert series "Nine Drawings for Projection and Sounds from the Black Box" has evolved, touring Australia, the UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, France and the US. In 2007, Miller conceived and composed "Rewind, a Cantata for voice, tape and testimony", an award-winning choral work, based on the testimonies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. The cantata had its international debut in New York at the Celebrate Brooklyn Festival and has been performed at the Williams College 62 Centre for Theatre and Dance, the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, and the Royal Festival Hall, London. In 2008, Miller’s sound installation "Special Boy" was selected as a finalist for Spier Contemporary, a major, national art exhibition in South Africa. Amongst his more recent commissions, Miller’s composition "Can you hear that?" was performed for the New York based Ensemble Pi in 2009. He has released many CDs of his music which include: "Rewind, a Cantata for voice, tape and testimony", William Kentridges’ "9 Drawings for Projection", "Black Box/ Chambre Noire", 'The Thula Project", "African Soundscapes" and "Shona Malanga".

Parallel Events

After-performance talk with William Kentridge, Dada Masilo and Philip Miller

23 November 2012

Moderated by:
Katia Arfara, Head of Theater and Dance Department at the Onassis Stegi

Masterclass by William Kentridge

Friday 23 November 2012

10:00-12:00 | 5th floor - Young Theater Workshop
Reservations:
T: 213 017 8004 | Email: stegi.education@onassis.org

Dance workshop with Dada Masilo

Sunday 25 November 2012

14:00-17:00 | Dance Room | 10 €

Reservations:
T: 213 017 8004 | Email: stegi.education@onassis.org

Credits

  • Conception and libretto

    William Kentridge

  • Music & co-orchestration

    Philip Miller

  • Choreography

    Dada Masilo

  • Video construction & editing

    Catherine Meyburgh

  • Dramaturge

    Peter Galison

  • Stage design

    Sabine Theunissen

  • Movement direction

    Luc de Wit

  • Costume design

    Greta Goiris

  • Machine design

    Christoff Wolmarans, Louis Olivier, Jonas Lundquist

  • Lighting design

    Urs Schoenebaum

  • Lighting designer's assistant

    John Torres

  • Co-orchestration

    Adam Howard

  • Sound design & engineer

    Gavan Eckhart

  • Technical production & lighting operator

    John Caroll

  • Property man

    Charles Picard

  • Stage Manager

    John McKellar

  • Video manipulator

    Kim Gunning

  • Performers

    William Kentridge, Dada Masilo (dancer), Donatienne Michel-Dansac (soprano), Ann Masina (vocalist), Joanna Dudley (vocalist), Bahm Ntabeni (actor and singer), Thato Motlhaolwa (actor), Alexander Cromwell (trumpet), Philip Miller (harmonium), Tlale Makhene (percussion), Waldo Alexander (violin), Dan Selsick (trombone, musical conductor), Vincenzo Pasquariello (pianist), Thobeka Thukane (tuba)

  • Translation into Greek

    Vasilis Kimoulis

  • Production

    Tomorrowland

  • Co-production

    Holland Festival, Festival d’Avignon, RomaEuropa Festival/Teatro di Roma, Onassis Stegi

  • With the support of

    the Marian Goodman Gallery (New York and Paris), Lia Rumma Gallery (Naples and Milan), the Goodman Gallery (Johannesburg and Cape Town) and the Goethe-Institut (South Africa)

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