Nothing That Is Everything New Old World
Music, dance and visual arts
‘The Ballad Of Erol Klof’ is a tribute to folklore. An ode to the universal human desire for refinement, depth, beauty, for community and the desire to give form to the inexplicable. A ‘Zita Swoon Universe’ inspired in part by ‘Wilder Mann: The Image of the Savage’, a book in which the French photographer Charles Fréger presents magnificent creatures from European folk traditions, and in part by all forms of dance, rituals, masks, puppets and costumes.
“With a multitude of color, many colorful and splendidly styled costumes, lots of soft and rich melodies, a few meters of lace-with-fruit patterns, a teddy bear, a cardboard box filled with clementines, and a rocking horse as more than a passing nod to the famous Rene Magritte cloudy sky. Red woollen thread throughout the piece: let the madness and the warmth be celebrated. It is a multi-colored party where, and with which, Carlens & Co. celebrate the encounter, both as artists and as people in a world where too often hostility prevails” Els Van Steenberghe Focus Knack
Artists
Concept, direction Stef Kamil Carlens, Aarich Jespers
Stef Kamil Carlens (vocals, xylophone, bas, dance), Wim De Busser (vocals, keyboards, sampler, Spanish guitar, effects, dance ), Misha Downey (dance, vocals, drums, Spanish guitar), Eva Tshiela Gysel (vocals, keyboards, glockenspiel, dance), Kapinga Gysel (vocals, xylophone, glockenspiel, bas, dance), Aarich Jespers (drums, keyboards, Spanish guitar, vocals, effects, dance), Inge Van Bruystegem (dance, vocals, Spanish guitar, banjo, ukelele, Matt Watts (vocals, Spanish guitar, banjo, dance) | music Aarich Jespers, Matt Watts, Wim De Busser, Stef Kamil Carlens | lyrics Matt Watts, Misha Downey, Wim De Busser, Aarich Jespers | feedback Lisaboa Houbrechts | folk dance coaching Michael Lazic | costumes Sietske Van Aerde, Stef Kamil Carlens | tailor Lut Tamsin | objects Stef Kamil Carlens, Aarich Jespers | wood and metal work assistance Tommislav Ruzic | colorist Ans Vandersteene | light design Luc Schaltin | artistic production assistant Laurence Bourgeois
Production
A production Wolvin / Zita Swoon Group vzw in co-production with Kaaitheater Brussels and supported by the Arts Administration of the Ministry of the Flemish Community.
Read more!?
‘The Ballad of Erol Klof’: the warmest musical theater piece by Stef Kamil Carlens in an interview with Focus Knack
“The creativity of the man will always seize the upper hand.” Stef Kamil Carlens in an interview with BRUZZ
We stick the term folklore somewhere and suddenly it looks like there is a layer of dust on it. If you take a broader view, it appears that it is an essential part of who we are. An interview with Stef Kamil Carlens, by Eva Decaesstecker (Kaaitheater, December 2016)