FLU水O by Alessandro Sciarroni part 2

The Belly Dance of Death is the final act of Mare Nostrum. As any tragedy, this opera by Kagel ends with a final (expected) resolution. Conquering and being conquered, is at the heart of Kagel’s piece, having the Mediterranean Sea as the centre of this drama.

Starting with this rich, powerful scenario that Mauricio Kagel composed in the early 70’s, Flu水o expands on this musical drama bringing the opera into the contemporary Mediterranean tragedy, transforming – through the works of several artists- the putrid water of the Mare Nostrum, filled with death and corpses, into a possible expansion of water as root of life. This presence of life that surpasses desperation and death, is also an encounter. It is the encounter of Anna Raimondo, Silvia Calderoni and Ilenia Caleo, Chiara Bersani, Silvia Gribaudi and Rossella Biscotti with exceptional artists from a distant time a place: Japan in the early 50s: Shiomi Chieko, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik. This group of powerful, independent artists coming into the project are voices from the past and also inspiration for the group of artists invited to perform a counter-singing commentary on Mare Nostrum. Inspired by water, performed with the music of Mare Nostrum, commenting on it and expanding it through gestures, objects, sounds and movements, Flu水o brings together the opposites and yet reveals the magic of art as a possible way to sublimate pain and heal the soul, something that we all need so badly.

Ono Yoko writes instructions for Waterdrop Painting (1961 autumn) as follows:

Let water drop.
Place a stone under it.
The painting ends when a hole is drilled
in the stone with the drops,
You may change the frequency of the water-
drop to your taste,
You may use beer, wine, ink, blood, etc.
Instead of water.
You may use typewriter, shoes, dress, etc.
Instead of stone,

1961 autumn.

A simple haiku, a poem and instruction, a revelation precise and yet so universal. Flu水o is all this, a strange project of collaborative intelligence where borders are no more existing and music and gestures create acts of redemption.

Davide Quadrio