Chrysalis: Burkina Faso
Choreographer/performer: Aguibou Bougobali Sanou
Composer: Antonio Vivaldi, with adaptation by Aguibou Bougobali Sanou
Artistic Director: Hannah von Wiehler (nee Schneider)
In our opening video, Sanou brings us to the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, for an exploration of the theme of Chrysalis. Sanou’s concept is one of magical realism, fusing the quotidian and the idealistic: he brings the images of wings and flight into the quotidian life of his home city. Abrupt camera motion follows the progress of Sanou, whose body transforms into various manifestations of a new butterfly taking wing. At the same time, as Sanou tries to take flight, ordinary life carries on around him – motorbikes, dogs, and chickens amble past him, heads turn of women on the way to their daily shopping. Interspersed with these images, however, is the orchestra in Oxford, set in a rooftop amphitheatre against a blue sky. This is the imagined world of Sanou’s mind, a sky where he can take flight and soar to music only heard by him. This fusion of locations should leave audiences with an uplifting sensation that taking flight is always possible – even if only in the mind.
CREDITS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Hannah von Wiehler (nee Schneider)
PRODUCER
Emilia Clark
1st Unit (Burkina Faso)
CHOREOGRAPHY
Aguibou Bougabali Sanou
COMPOSITION
Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, ‘Winter’, I. Allegro non molto. Additional vocal and drum lines by Aguibou Bougabali Sanou.
PERFORMER
Aguibou Bougabali Sanou
MUSICIANS – BURKINA FASO
Fanta COULIBALY
Seydou KONÉ
Directed by Aguibou Bougabali Sanou
MUSIC RECORDING
Studio Afric Echos – Sylvain Dando PARÉ
EDITOR
Emilia Clark
COLORIST
Ken Slater
2nd Unit (Oxford)
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Alex van Leeuwen
LIGHTING CAMERAMAN
Calum Bradshaw
MUSIC:
OXFORD ALTERNATIVE ORCHESTRA
Music Director: Hannah von Wiehler (nee Schneider)
Solo violin:
Violetta Suvini
Violin:
Hannah Leighton-Jones
Jenny Wang
Elizabeth Nurse
Marcus Spiegel
Viola:
Alexander Gunasekera
Adi Jacobson
William Emery
Cello:
Giulia da Cruz
Lizi Vineall
Bass:
Samuel Hopkins
MUSIC RECORDING AND MIXING
Jonathan Danciger
