THE DREAM OF MESMER

musique for dance-theatre

Soundtrack and album by Jerome Baur - Switzerland, 2019

SAMPLES

ALBUM

TRAILER

PLOT 

Romance inspired by the life of the German artist and inventor, Gustav Mesmer (1903-19949). A man who spent most of his life locked up in a psychiatric hospital and who never stopped dreaming of flying by building hundreds of flying machines. His unlikely encounter with a colorful fictional character, Clara, a famous movie actress who has lost control of her life.

Music produced with the support of the SSA - Swiss Society of Authors - grant for the creation of stage music. Creation in collaboration with the expertise of Mrs. Lucienne Perry, former Director of the Art Brut collection in Lausanne for 10 years and, with the Gustav Mesmer Foundation presented by Mr. Stefan Hartmaier (Germany).

MUSIC

A year before the start of the creation of the show, Tania De Paola asked me to explore "the meeting" between the music of the Balkans and the music of West Africa.

It was a great intuition that she had since this marriage proved to be not only relevant and right with the nature of the characters of the show, but also particularly interesting and rich in the balance of the emotions that each of these musical styles is able to convey. A beautiful alchemy!

Indeed, the sensual swaying of the Mandingo music and the rhythms of the traditional music of Mali met the "unfiltered energy" of the Balkan music of which Goran Bregovic and the mystery of the Bulgarian voices have become the most famous ambassadors.

On this, I then added my own touch by mixing electro elements, sub-bass, psycho-acoustic effects, as well as a writing closer to film music than to theater music.

I was very touched to see that the final result was enthusiastically received by the audience. They gave me wonderful feedback on the emotions and the organic side of my music. They were also surprised to learn that all the instruments I played were actually virtual.

CHOREOGRAPHY

And then there is the choreography. Tania De Paola's choreography is not, as the word "choreography" could imply, "demonstrative" or a performance of danced movement sequences.

It is a subtle weaving between the character's personal way of moving (au naturel) that she creates scene after scene, movement after movement, sculpting the soul of the character and also, "dreamlike suites" or poetic complements given to the words of the text via dance and music.

Because the title of Choreographer is present, indeed many expect to see figures, jumps, spikes or developments, but Tania De Paola realizes here a true integration of chorgraphy in the direction of the actor.

This exploration and her choreographic writing are refined with each show and, according to me, THE DREAM OF MESMER / LE REVE DE MESMER is a giant step in her artistic research.    

LIGHT DESIGN

The contribution of the conception and creation of the lights by Danielle Milovic was also a qualitative and poetic leap. With her play of mirrors and her work on the density of space, Danielle Milovic created a universe, an identity of her own to the show and without question moments of visual magic.

On stage, Nicolas Turicchia gave life to the character of Gustav Mesmer by interpreting him with a lot of tenderness, delicacy and humor. Shine Iglesias made Clara's character, the lost actress, her own, playing her on a fragile thread stretched between despair and joyful madness.

And then there is also the third important character in the show, they are all these incredible reproductions of flying machines of Gustav Mesmer, realized by Yves Besson. A work of great precision which gave life to a bicycle equipped with several mobile wings, a pair of wings in backpack mobile too and, spring shoes that Gustav Mesmer had designed to fly.

ANNECDOTE

This whole story actually started more than a year ago, in Tania de Paola's kitchen. On the wall of the kitchen, there were postcards of Gustav Mesmer, sitting on his incredible flying machines.

For almost seven years, Tania De Paola had already been planning to write a show about him one day. She had discovered him during the exhibition of his works at the Musée d'Art Brut in Lausanne.

I remember with tenderness that day when, over a cup of coffee, we exchanged our ideas on what would become a show more than a year later. Creating a total show from a "simple" idea remains a unique adventure.

CREDITS

Concept, direction and choreography - Tania de Paola
Performers - Shine Iglesias, Nicolas Turicchia
Music and sound design - Jérôme Baur
Lighting design - Danielle Milovic
Adaptation of the author's text: Attilio Sandro Palese
Administration: Tania De Paola and Sarah Frund
Research of financing : Tania De Paola, Sarah Frund and Jérôme Baur
Costumes - Scilla Ilardo
Construction and engineering of the flying machines - Yves Besson
Communication and project management - Tania De Paola
Photographs and social networks - Brigitte Bullmann
Trailer : Patrick Guex
Graphic designer - Orang Putih
Webmaster - Yann Zombeck

GALLERY