HEROES
“I was astonished when I heard John Scott first. His voice reverberates through space like a clear shot of lightening... Scott deconstructs the opera form, not with the erudition of a post-modern arts practitioner, but with the visceral shamanic passion of a true artist." - Michael Harding, Irish Playwright
"What a crazy, lovely, intimate, boldly interactive, hilarious way to learn the stories from the opera-and experience John's booming voice & staggering body whiz past us." - Wendy Perron, Editor Dance Magazine, USA
"He uses flecks of music, bits and arias from various operas to engage with the audience, dialogue with them, wrestle and move them from their seats, sometimes serenading individuals in a chaos of story and emotion on which he imposes the control and elegance of his beautiful voice. As he weaves fragments of narrative into a single whole, - a coherent sense of his story, my story and our story”. - Michael Harding
Heroes is a powerful Opera/Dance performance, thrillingly delivered by John Scott, choreographer, dancer and operatic tenor. Scott, whose dance works tour nationally and internationally and whose singing career spans from New York to the UK, creates his first major solo since ‘The Bowing Dance’, using the universe of German operatic heroes: Beethoven’s Fidelio, Wagner’s Die Walkure and Siegfried, and Weber’s Der Freischutz and characters from Puccini’s Turandot, Tosca and Verdi’s Rigoletto and Otello.
Scott, winner of the Tenor Solo Trophy, studied with the legendary Veronica Dunne (Dublin) and Janice Chapman (London) and performed with voice/dance pioneer Meredith Monk, creates a journey of dance during which his astonishing voice reveals two selves, human and mythological. The music portrays heroes battling evil forces and conquering darkness, interspersed with the theme of escape.
Soundscape is by French-Palestinian artist Jassem Hindi, who also collaborates with Keith Hennessy and Maira Habib. The collaboration between Scott and Hindi creates a sound environment for the operatic echoes to resonate. Heroes is framed through interaction with Jonathan Burrows collaborator Matteo Fargion.
Heroes was commissioned by Carlow Arts Festival 2016. It has been performed in Ireland at St John’s Arts Centre, Listowel, The Dock Arts Centre, Carrick-on-Shannon, Wexford Arts Centre, Irish World Academy for Music and Dance and internationally at Dance Across Borders, 3a Vaningen, Gothenburg, Sweden, and Sounded Bodies Festival, Zagreb, Croatia.
Concept / Choreography / Performance: John Scott
Soundscape: Jassem Hindi
Outside Eye: Matteo Fargion
Featuring Live Music By: Beethoven, Wagner, Puccini
Reviews
HEROES
3:e Våningen
March 7/8 | 2019
3:e Våningen
Sockerbruket, Göteborg, Sweden
HEROES
Le Regard Du Cygne
March 14/15 | 2019
Le Regard Du Cygne
210 Rue de Belleville, Paris, France
HEROES
Etud and Friends Festival 2019
June 25 | 2019
Etud and Friends Festival
DNK - Space for Contemporary Dance and Performance, Sofia, Bulgaria
HEROES - a socially distanced fragment
Cafe La MaMa Live Take 4
April 28 | 2020
Cafe La MaMa Moves Live Take 4
New York, New York
HEROES
Racconti Di Altre Danze Festival 2021
October 16 | 2022
Racconti Di Altre Danze Festival
Livorno, Italy
HEROES
Five Lamps Arts Festival 2023
March 20 | 2023
Five Lamps Arts Festival 2023
Clasac Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
HEROES
International PeaceDance Festival 2023
July 2 | 2023
International PeaceDance Festival 2023
Kunstraum Hase29, Osnabrück, Germany
HEROES
Dance Cork Firkin Crane
October 21/22 | 2023
Dance Cork Firkin Crane
Smurfit Theatre, Shandon, Co. Cork
part of Smashing Times' Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival