Wheezing, creaking, roaring, squishing – these are not sound effects from a new “A Nightmare on Elm Street” sequel, this is a sound poetry reading at A Maze in Tchaiovna venue. To celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the first Dadaist soiree in The Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Jaap Blonk, world renowned Dutch Dadaist, gives a voice workshop followed by performance on Saturday, Feb. 6.
Dada was a literary and artistic movement that originated in 1916 as an angry reaction to the causes of the World War I, mainly nationalism and rationalism, and the horrors it brought about. “Never follow any known rules,” that was the only rule of Dadaists. They often opposed all established norms, fighting rationality by creating meaningless art.
The organizers of the workshop are promising fun experience “for vocalists and performers who want to explore the inner depths and outer reaches of voice, text, music and sound in an exploratory improvisational framework.” The lesson will be conducted in a playful way, heavily relying on games and improvisational techniques, and sometimes using short sound poems.
Sound poetry is an avant-garde performative art, where performers themselves make sounds of traditional poetic verses instead of words. Blonk has been mastering the art for a few decades already, developing an impressive discography and gaining audience’s admiration all around the world.
Marc Cram, Prague-based American performer and actor, describes him as nothing less, but “fantastically Dada.” He discovered Blonk’s “Flux De Boche” album during his college years in the United States, after a while he hopelessly fell in love with Blonk’s art. “One year ago, during his performance Blonk hit such an intense vocal sound that his nose started bleeding and he had to stop the performance,” Cram shares with excitement, anxious to see him perform in Prague.
Blonk takes part in Dada Week, a series of events organised by A Maze in Tchaiovna:
Friday 19:00 – Jaap Blonk + Dada 100th Anniversary Night (150kc)
Saturday 14:00 – Workshop with Jaap Blonk (800kc/500kc for students)
Saturday 19:30 – Jaap Blonk + Dada soirée (150kc)
More information about Dada Week can be found here
More information about workshop can be found here
