Miserere

Miserere

Freely inspired by Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Miserere

MISERERE questions the human condition through the eyes and voice of a woman, a seer, a sibylline oracle, accompanied by an exultant chorus. The Miserere (ZWV57) by the Baroque composer Zelenka (1679-1745) serves as a source of inspiration for a contemporary musical, theatrical and choreographic rewrite. The Miserere (ZWV57) by the Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745) serves as a source of inspiration for a contemporary musical, theatrical and choreographic rewrite. Taken out of its moral and religious straitjacket, this psalm is presented as a long incantation in a resolutely secular and poetic context. Part pop icon, part ancient tragedienne, a cleaning lady speaks to us: at once concrete and mythical, rebellious and inspired, she cleans and takes upon herself the pains and tears of the world in order to transfigure them. As she utters the Miserere, a choir of five dancers full of energy gravitates around her and accompanies her, embodying the haunting and ever-renewed forces of life.

Credits

Conception and direction: Ingrid von Wantoch Rekowski
Artistic collaboration & choreography: Serge Aimé Coulibaly
Composition & sound creation: Sébastien Schmitz
Performer: Candy Saulnier
Dancers : Suzie Babin, Frauke Mariën, Adonis Nebié, Nathanaël Petit, Israël Ngashi
Dramaturgy: Manolo Sellati, Éric Brucher
Assistant: Laura Wolf
Lighting & stage design : Arié Van Egmond
Lighting & stage design assistant : Steve Neuville
Lighting trainee : Yohan Neut
Costumes: Regine Becker
Stage management: Kevin Sage
Production advisor: Isabelle Bodson
Production supervisor: Pauline Bernard / Quai 41
Special thanks to : Alba Creative, Cécile Bodson, Alessandro Licata, Jan Maertens

Production : Lucilia Ceasar. Coproduction : Palais des Beaux-Arts (Charleroi), Théâtre de Namur, Central La Louvière, Charleroi danse, KVS, La Monnaie / De Munt (Bruxelles). Co-produced with Coop asbl and Shelter Prod. With the support of taxshelter.be, ING and the Belgian federal government’s tax shelter scheme. With the support of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (Culture – Theatre Department).

Press

“It is dread inspired by evil that lies at the core of Psalm 51 of David, named Miserere in French: Have mercy. The Psalm goes on: ‘Have mercy on me, wash me of my faults, purify me.’ An artist of extraordinary lucidity, Ingrid von Wantoch Rekowski was inspired by Zelenka’s musical translation of this invocation. Exceptional artists joined her in this quest; the result is a staggering catharsis in the truest sense of the term.“
(La Libre Belgique, 02/02/26, Martine Dumont-Mergeay)

“Music never ceases to evolve, and Miserere even takes on jazzy overtones, becomes a feverish political speech, veers toward Brazilian rhythms. Dance, too, is transformed. One thinks of a purification rite, before the five inanimate bodies are piled one on top of the other by the solitary heroine, attempting to clean up the misery of the world.”
(Le Soir, 27/01/26, Jean-Marie Wynants)

“The choreography by Serge Aimé Coulibaly impresses a constant tension upon the stage. Bodies never stop contracting, unfolding, colliding. Faces contort, gestures oscillate between overflow and restraint, as if vitality itself had to carve out a path in a world saturated with violence and contradictions.”
(Classykéo, 30/01/26, Soline Heurtebise)