SAPPHO
APPHO (orig: DRYPPENDE STOF – Sapfos Fragmenter) is a newly composed opera performance at Glyptoteket based on Mette Moestrup’s version of Sappho of Lesbos (630 BC) with composition by Matilde Böcher and choreography by Jules Fischer.
The performance premiered at the museum Glyptoteket in Copenhagen as part of Copenhagen Opera Festival and Copenhagen Pride. It is a performance about love, femininity, eroticism, and community, based on the poetry of the queer icon Sappho. The performance is a visually and musically strong work with 8 performers including an opera singer, dancers, and singers. The critics were divided by the performance: It received much praise from the press as well as harsh criticism, and the audience kept coming to the Central Hall at Glyptoteket.
Duration: 55 min
THE COMPANY: JULES FISCHER & MATILDE BÖCHER
JULES FISCHER (they/them)
Jules Fischer graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2017 and has also studied Dance and Choreography at the Danish School of Performing Arts and Art and Social Practice at Portland State University. Fischer works at the intersection of choreography and visual art and is concerned with worldmaking, impermanence and queer and trans identity creation. Their works are 4D collages of movements, images, words, music and costume often made in close collaboration with performers and other artists. Fischer’s work has been shown in various institutions and artist-run spaces and in 2022 they have been selected as part of the program “the young artistic elite” by the Danish Arts Foundation.
MATILDE BÖCHER (she/her)
Matilde Böcher is a graduate in composition from Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium and in fine arts from Kunsthögskolan in Malmö – Lund Universitet. She is a sound artist and works with music in connection with installation, performance, theater and video.Her performances Messiah in Nat was nominated for the award Årets Reumert, the Jury’s special prize (2019). Overload was nominated for the award Årets Reumert, the Jury’s special prize (2015). Matilde Böcher has received the large working grant of the Danish Arts Foundation as well as grants for her work.
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY
Böcher/Fischers international strategy is based on finding presenters with access to interesting venues and a profile which matches the performance. They are looking for possibilities to meet presenters from theatres, galleries, museums and festivals with a profile in performance, new opera and queer visual and performing arts. The company is interested in performing in both Scandinavia, the rest of Europe, and can go to other continents for the right venue. The libretto is written in Danish and it is performed in Danish, but an English translation is available as text. Böcher/Fischer are also interested in continuing their collaboration in a new piece.
CONTACT PERSON
Maja Bonde Holtze, maja@prfrm.dk, +45 21200581
FORMAT AND SUSTAINABILITY
The performance is created without technique and with minimal scenography so it can travel lightly and minimize its CO2 footprint. The costumes are created using recycled materials, and in the context of touring, environmentally friendly forms of travel are chosen when possible.
LANGUAGE
Danish
AUDIENCE TARGET GROUP(S)
+ 14
CREDITS
Text: Sapfo
Concept and staging: Mathilde Böcher & Jules Fischer
Idea, composition and libretto: Mathilde Böcher (she/her)
Choreography, set design and casting: Jules Fischer (they/them)
Rendering of Sapfo: Mette Moestrup (she/her)
Idea and director consultant: Liv Helm (she/her)
Dramaturg: Tanja Hylling Diers (she/her)
Mezzo soprano: Ingeborg Børch (she/her)
Percussionist and co-composer: Jaleh Negari (she/her)
Performer and singer: Ani Bigum Kampe (she/her)
Performer, choreography and chorus: Klara Jensen De Lopez (she/her)
Performer, and choreography: Julienne Doko (she/her)
Performer and choreography: Kai Merke (they/them)
Performer, choreography and growl: Lisen Pousette (she/her)
Philological consultant for the reconstruction of Sapfo: Mette Christiansen (she/her)
Styling & costumes: Puer Parasitus
Hair: Melissa Solomon (she/her)
Make-up concept: Levi Eja (they/them/it)
Scent design: Odor&Fumes
Ceramics: Tina Marie CPH
Props: Mette Hammer Juhl (she/her)
Builder: Andrew Mathews (he/ him)
Graphic design: Marie Brodersen (she/her)
Producers: PRFRM
Administration: SCENEPROJEKT
SAPPHO has been created in collaboration with Glyptoteket and Copenhagen Opera Festival.
The performance is funded by the Danish Arts Foundation, the Bikuben Fonden, the Augustinus Fonden, Golden Days, Københavns Kommune, Copenhagen Opera Festival, William Demant Fonden and Knud Højgaards Fond.
The libretto is adapted from Sapfo’s fragments, which have been adapted by Mette Moestrup and published by Gyldendal.
The performance is curated by CPH Stage.