The Ark
L'Arsenal a Musique Today and tomorrow, 8pm Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre
Reggi Ettore and Lorena Corradi, two Milan Conservatory graduates, founded L'Arsenal ? Musique in 1978 to introduce 'erudite musical compositions performed by professional musicians' to a wide audience.
But music is not the only weapon the Canadian multimedia theatre troupe uses in The Ark, a textless production conceived for audiences of all ages. 'For many years, we have produced interdisciplinary shows that allow us to combine music with other disciplines,' says Ettore, the artistic director.
'Contemporary music is often associated with elitist or experimental music intended for a specialist audience. We wanted to break down those boundaries by finding new ways of presenting this type of music to a broader public.'
The show features a juggler (Emile Carey), acrobat (Jean-Francois Faber), contortionist and aerial silk performer (Julie Choquette), equilibrist (Valerie Cote), roue cyr performer (Andy Giroux, above) and comedian (Mirko Trierenberg), who share the stage with percussionist Merlin Ettore.
'The Ark is conceived as a musical innovation, a work starring one soloist on stage ... The composer, Denis Gougeon, worked in close collaboration with Merlin Ettore to write a powerful musical piece for drums and MIDI drum controllers,' says Reggi Ettore. 'The Ark [also] reflects on the difficult relationship between man and nature. We have, therefore, worked with circus performers whose flexible bodies evoke animals in motion.'
Ettore adds that the troupe has tried to praise nature's mysteries with the use of acrobatics - a metaphor for the vital force that drives the universe. 'Our reflections led us to develop a precise virtual framework for the gymnasts and jugglers, and poetic imagery to accompany their exuberant performances,' he says.
Created in collaboration with the Biodome of Montreal, an ecological museum, and with the support of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Environment Programme and the Canadian Commission for Unesco, The Ark is an intellectual and idealistic work.
Ettore says: 'Our message is not alarmist: we seek only to awaken the public's interest in a cause that is without borders, without limits.
'The Ark is not a moralistic show: we do not intend to underline anyone's guilt. Rather, we wish to increase in a gentle and poetic manner public awareness that we are all responsible for the current state of the planet, and that we must be critical about what we bestow on the generations to follow.
'Hope is mandatory to generate change on the planet,' Ettore says.
111 Shau Kei Wan Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$140, HK$180 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2268 7323
