Coup Fatal
Fabrizio Cassol, Alain Platel & Rodriguez Vangama
1h50
(Re)Creation at Comédie de Genève
Coup Fatal was born of a meeting in 2010 between four artists: choreographer Alain Platel, composer Fabrizio Cassol, countertenor Serge Kakudji, and guitarist Rodriguez Vangama. The two Belgians and the two Congolese took up the challenge of fusing their respective artistic and cultural horizons into an original, joyful, and colourful alchemy, combining Congolese beats with baroque music.
Ten years after their last choreographed concert, Platel, Cassol, and Vangama have decided to restage Coup Fatal and, at the invitation of Comédie de Genève, have invited new artists to join them.
Two men come on stage. They call out to each other through their instruments, engaging in an intense, fiery musical dialogue. One holds a double-necked electric guitar, the other a likembe. A dozen other musicians and singers immediately respond to this call to dance, community, and friendship, brandishing chairs above their heads in the colours of the Kinshasa sky.
A musical, dance show, and concert, Coup Fatal blends traditional sounds, electric bursts, and Baroque arias in a generous effervescence of sound and vision that will leave a lasting impression and resonate in people’s minds long after the show. The countertenor’s subtle voice slips into the musical flow, with the Baroque repertoire (Monteverdi, Handel, Gluck, and Bach) making its classical contribution to the original polyphonies of the Congolese repertoire.
With unbridled elegance, the artists play, sing, and dance like inspired virtuosos in this total spectacle that sounds like a shot, lights up like a thunderbolt, and pierces like a fatal blow.
Around the performance
PREMIERE Tuesday 17 December
CONVERSATION WITH THE ARTISTS Thursday 19 December, after the show
RELAX SHOW on Thursday 19 December