Sounding "La Fiesta" - Festival d'Avignon
Performed in the Cour D’Honneur within the Palais Des Papes on July 17, 2017, director Isreal Galván’s La Fiesta was an interesting aural experience to say the least. Galván was raised by a family of artists and was always on the road observing the culture of celebration throughout Spain (Program, 2). La Fiesta sets out to explore the many instances of celebration in Spanish culture through the medium of flamenco dance and music tradition. “Both flamenco music and flamenco dance involve a great deal of personal improvisation which takes its form through the spontaneous expression of the performer's emotions at each moment of the performance. “However, personal expression must adhere to the strict framework of flamenco music's traditions and rhythmic patterns” (Fernández, 1). Moreover, “[flamenco] dance is situated within a larger discourse [including] information about what is regarded as a ‘culture’ [which] is an integral part of the creation of identities, gender, race, class, social change and values” (Caltabiano, 9).
During La Fiesta, sound and movement took centre stage, as no spoken dialogue was used. Moreover, the cast did not necessarily come with a background of flamenco, which brought an eclectic mixture of talent to the performance text (program, 2). As a novice sound designer myself, my conditions of reception were moulded by my affinity for sound and how it is incorporated into a performance. I was particularly enthralled by the unique use of the actors’ bodies, the set (including the ground, tables with loose objects, and chairs), and unconventional instruments to create the soundscape. Furthermore, Galván states in an interview how these sounds create a tension in regards to space, leaving nothing clearly defined to illustrate how celebration in and of itself is never a clearly defined event (program, 3). The effect of this type of soundscape within such a space was polarizing in terms of how the soundscape garnered such intense opposing reactions from the audience members. Early on, many in the back rows were stomping their feet in what seemed like intense annoyance or dissatisfaction.
Through the context of the international Theatre Festival of Avignon, “it demands that theatre productions become detached from their places of origin and circulate to new audiences who are largely unfamiliar with the local connotations and nuances the actors portray” (McMahon, 3). By bypassing language barriers through utilizing different methods of communication, namely aural means, La Fiesta wove together spontaneous narratives of celebration through music and dance. The conditions of reception for many audience members most likely included a detachment from the nuances and traditions of flamenco. Numerous audience members were greatly affected by the performance. There was a notable moment of audience exodus during a long segment of a man singing in pain for around three to four minutes. And on the opposite end, many applauded enthusiastically after different dance segments to acknowledge the skills of the performers.
Works Cited
La Fiesta. By Israel Galván. Cour D'Honneur, Palais Des Papes, Avignon. 17 July 2017. Performance.
Caltabiano, Pamela Ann. Embodied Identities: Negotiating the Self Through Flamenco Dance. Georgia State University, n.d. Web. 19 July 2017.
Fernández, Gustavo. Http://www.enforex.com/culture/flamenco.html. Flamenco Dance. Enforex, n.d. Web. 19 July 2017.
Galván, Israel. "La Fiesta." Program n.d.: 1-5. Print.
McMahon, Christina S. Recasting Transnationalism Through Performance. Studies in International Performance, n.d. Web. 19 July 2017.
