Dancer in the Dark (2018)
Sound design and music (Marybell Katastrophy) for Dancer in the Dark at Aarhus Theatre
EN NY MUSIKFORESTILLING BASERET PÅ FILM AF LARS VON TRIER DRAMATISERING PATRICK ELLSWORTH SANGTEKSTER PATRICK ELLSWORTH OG STINE PILGAARD OVERSÆTTER STINE PILGAARD ISCENESÆTTELSE ANNE ZACHO SØGAARD LYDUNIVERS MARIE KOLDKJÆR HØJLUND & MORTEN RIIS MUSIK MARIE KOLDKJÆR HØJLUND, MORTEN RIIS, KLAUS Q HEDEGAARD & STEFFEN LUNDTOFT JENSEN SCENOGRAFI & KOSTUMEDESIGN HELLE DAMGAARD LYSDESIGN MATHIAS HERSLAND KOREOGRAFI KASPER RAVNHØJ MEDVIRKENDE SOFIA NOLSØE, NANNA BØTTCHER, CHRISTIAN HETLAND, ANDERS BAGGESEN, LUISE SKOV, HOLGER ØSTERGAARD, LISE LAUENBLAD, CHRISTOFFER HVIDBERG RØNJE, MARIE KOLDKJÆR HØJLUND, STEFFEN LUNDTOFT JENSEN, AARHUS TEATERS KOR M.FL.
EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS:
WEEKENDAVISEN / national paper
"Morten Riis and Marie Koldkjær Højlund’s audio design consisting of Højlund and drummer Steffen Lundtoft Jensen’s live music, as well as small contact microphones connected on the scene, is utterly sublime and the highlight of the performance. It is this electronic, metallic Industrial that creates a connection between repression and the redemption in Selma's contrasting existence in the whole of the first act, as is the absence of sound that drains her of life in the prison cell in second act."
GAFFA / national music magazine for young people (5 out of 6 stars):
"The creators of the performance sound design are Morten Riis and Marie Koldkjær Højlund, both of which are recognized names of the Danish music scene and together form The Overhead. They use everyday sounds as a starting point in their audio design - and their professionalism in the experimental field shines through in the captivating sound collage, which symbolizes Selma's inner (highly active) world. A tribute to the artist duo who has managed to make the music grow out of all the cracks in the theatre-floor in a symbiotic fusion with the story and scenography that plays on stage.”
INFORMATION / national newspaper
"The unique presence of the theatre together with Marie Højlund and Morten Riis' beautiful sound universe create an absolute integrated performance"
"In addition to the music, the lyrics are new. Patrick Ellsworth, who is responsible for the dramatization, has written texts with the Danish translator Stine Pilgaard to the songs, which, with their daily poetics, fit perfectly"
"especially one of the songs keeps hanging in the ears after the show. I take myself to hum "you're a dancer, a dancer in the dark" on my way home through Aarhus's night-dark streets. The performance - and especially the music - stays in the body long after the light is off and the hall is empty."
AARHUS 8000 / Local website about culture in Aarhus (5 out of 6 stars):
"Have you ever listened to the world - really listened to it? Everything has one sound; each movement has a pace. Put it together and you have a whole symphony. Is there a more beautiful way to be in the world than to experience it as music?"
"The music is unique as the lead role, with some very beautiful passages and the actors raise the performance in a shared power performance."
AARHUS UPDATE / Local website about culture in Aarhus (5 out of 6 stars):
"Imagine the theatre stage, as one big musical instrument. The sound of breathing, pulse, the blood that pumps and amplified sounds in the slightest movements. We are the main character, Selmas, ears in Dancer in the Dark, playing at Aarhus theater."
"The sound universe, created by the artist duo The Overheard consisting of Morten Riis and Marie Koldkjær Højlund is brilliant. It supports Selma's mind and draws us into her universe. Initially, the lead uses the sounds positively, but gradually she cannot control them, and the paranoia takes over."
GREGERSDH / national online review (5 out of 6 stars):
"The four composers are responsible for the music and the constantly changing sound image - with sudden general breaks that make sound and music stand extra sharp."
"From that moment we are in a world of enchantment. An enchantment where the sounds become crucial as a part of the performance.”
"Each sound grows into a clinical intervention. Reality, song and visual fiction slide in one whole, You are drawn into Selma's search for mental footing"
KRISTELIGT DAGBLAD / national paper (4 out of 6 stars)
"The two sound makers and researchers Marie Koldkjær Højlund and Morten Riis have written new music for the performance and has created a complex sound universe that represents the tragic heroine's interior world."
"The music bids the simple and insurmountable welcome and is surprising liberating. The music belongs to our heroine and only wants the best for her"
"Selma's imagination collides with reality and it is reflected elegantly in the music tracks softness to the lyrics, which is performed with an everyday dump, prosaic coolness"
"In the performance's most catchy song where the factory working heroes celebrate life (...) you sense Marie Koldkjær Højlund's experience in hitmaking. (...) "Verdensmestre" ("Invincible me" red.) is a hit that makes the audience jump from their seats mentally."
POLITIKEN / national paper (4 out of 6 stars)
“Even if I miss more dancing in 'Dancer in the Dark', the musical scenes and the entire sound and music universe, by Marie Koldkjær Højlund and Morten Riis, work as a catchy entrance to see and hear, how the world unfolds in Selma head.”
JYLLANDS POSTEN / national paper (4 out of 6 stars)
“Lars von Triers film universe as well as Björks sound universe is perfectly unfolded in this setup - but especially through the music, updated till 2018”
