Folkå

About the work

“The frenetic pace of contemporary life elicits us to stop for a moment and collect the legacy of time. Human beings, from their solitude, face the awareness of their finitude and the drama of not finding their definitive place in this world. This difficulty is in turn the gift that allows us to express ourselves and transmit our concerns from one generation to the next.

The person who leaves the cave versus the person who leaves their apartment in the 21st century is the same person that builds fictions where they do not find the answers that calm their spirit, asking themselves the same questions about life and death generation after generation. All fictions, from primitive rites to their manifestation in updated images, are developed in communion with the group.

Folklore is the expression of the customs and traditions of the peoples, it is the celebration of life and the honor of death through music, dance, symbols, legends or superstitions.

Folkå acts as a ceremony of our time that looks to the past to remind us that we continue to celebrate life, though mystical rites, here bathed in the fury of contemporaneity, where we continue to be part of an endless cycle.

Folkå is a song to life, a night of offering and celebration.”

- Marcos Morau

Credits

Choreography: Marcos Morau
Assistant to choreographer: Nuria Navarra, Shay Partush
Music: New composition & Sound design by Juan Cristobal Saavedra.
New compositions: Condividiamo La Luna & Whisper including Vocal coaching by Kim Sutherland.
The London Bulgarian Choir led by Dessislava Stefanova: Mor’f Elenku, trad.; Izgreyala Yasna Zvezda, trad. arrangement by Dessislava Stefanova; Razbolyal Se E Mlad Stoyan by Kiril Todorov.
Lighting design: Tom Visser
Set design: Marcos Morau

Costume design: Silvia Delagneau
NDT rehearsal directors: Lydia Bustinduy, Ander Zabala
Duration: 26 minutes
Premiere date: Oct. 24, 2024
Premiere location: Amare, The Hague

Original cast

Demi Bawon, Jui-Ting Yu, Nicky Daniels, Barry Gans, Auguste Palayer, Ivo Mateus, Ricardo Hartley, Emmitt Cawley, Annika Verplancke, Sophie Whittome, Kele Roberson, Cassandra Martin, Kenedy Kallas, Austin Meiteen

Barry Gans about 'Folkå'

“This is NDT 2’s first creation process with Marcos Morau. As a company, we are very excited to be able to perform live and in person for our audience again. Throughout this past year, we have all experienced hardship, testing our resilience both as individuals and as a collective. With Marcos, this idea of shared experience was explored through his unique and complex movement style.

This piece speaks to group mentality as a way to cope with the world we live in. The joy, pain, sadness, and love we feel becomes a shared experience as we connect through commonalities and ritual. Folkå is an interpretation, an experience, a lens through which to view humanity.“