The Voice That You Are

The project is a performative examination of the concept of the voice. It relates the dramatic voice of musical theatre with the voices of the citizens of Dortmund. Dancing or performing bodies act as translators. At the beginning of the project, a large number of Dortmunders met the singers of the ensemble and discussed their experiences with opera, as well as their doubts and expectations. The starting point of this dialogue was: “What should we sing about?”

Starting from this question, numerous interviews were created that often transitioned into true dialogue between citizens and singers.

After the interviews, the singers selected musical pieces that they saw as possible answers to the questions that were raised. This way, highly diverse materials were assembled. All these pieces were recorded in a studio. These musical answers form the second pillar of the project.

The musical answers form an opera of voices with the material that is sung live. The composer Tian Rotteveel works with dynamic musical systems, sounds that are partially controlled by AI, and can be combined with live singing. First, the voices of the singers are disembodied, before being put back together again digitally.

The sonic space created this way opens a space of action for the dancers in which they playfully embody the suggestions and wishes of the citizens. Chimeras, fleeting beings, and shapes of possibility emerge, which can be combined with the material collected in the interviews.

In this way, a space full of possibilities – acoustic and physical – is created, in which dancers continuously translate the ongoing dialogue.

http://www.christoph-winkler.com/produktionen/the-voice-that-you-are/