Scapino Ballet back on the road with "ICON/NICO" and "Songs For Drella"

Two Factory inspired pieces by Dutch choreographer Ed Wubbe will be reprised by ballet company Scapino. The 1997 ICON/NICO performance, with music by John Cale, is part of the triptych ICONS (w/ 15 minutes or less and WOLF). Songs For Drella (2011), set to the tribute to Andy Warhol album by Lou Reed and John Cale, will be making the rounds again in early 2015.

ICONS dates:

• 09/26 Roosendaal @ Schouwburg De Kring
• 10/01 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 10/02 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 10/03 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 10/08 Enschede @ Wilminktheater
• 10/11 Gouda @ Goudse Schouwburg
• 10/14 Tilburg @ Theaters Tilburg
• 10/15 Apeldoorn @ Schouwburg Orpheus
• 10/16 Groningen @ Stadsschouwburg Groningen
• 10/18 Deventer @ Deventer Schouwburg
• 10/21 Den Bosch @ Theater aan de Parade
• 10/23 Heerlen @ Parkstad Limburg Theaters
• 10/25 Amsterdam @ Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam
• 10/26 Amsterdam @ Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam
• 10/29 Waalwijk @ Theater De Leest
• 10/30 Haarlem @ Stadsschouwburg Haarlem
• 11/01 Drachten @ De Lawei
• 11/04 Eindhoven @ Parktheater Eindhoven
• 11/05 Tiel @ De Agnietenhof
• 11/07 Dordrecht @ Schouwburg Kunstmin
• 11/08 Nijmegen @ Stadsschouwburg Nijmegen
• 11/11 Hoofddorp @ Schouwburg De Meerse
• 11/12 Purmerend @ Theater De Purmaryn
• 11/13 Alkmaar @ Theater de Vest
• 11/14 Zoetermeer @ Stadstheater
• 11/18 Delft @ Theater De Veste
• 11/19 Meppel @ Schouwburg Ogterop
• 11/21 Capelle aan den IJssel @ ISALA Theater
• 11/22 Amstelveen @ Schouwburg Amstelveen
• 11/25 Zutphen @ De Hanzehof
• 11/26 Emmen @ Theater De Muzeval
• 11/27 Wageningen @ Junushoff
• 12/02 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 12/03 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 12/04 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 12/05 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 12/06 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 12/09 Utrecht @ Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
• 12/13 Sittard @ Stadsschouwburg Sittard-Geleen
• 12/19 Den Haag @ Lucent Danstheater
• 12/20 Breda @ Chassé Theater

Songs for Drella dates:

• 02/06 Schiedam @ Theater a.d Schie
• 02/10 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 02/11 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 02/12 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 02/13 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 02/14 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 02/18 Leeuwarden @ Stadsschouwburg De Harmonie
• 02/19 Den Helder @ Schouwburg De Kampanje
• 02/21 Zwolle @ Odeon De Spiegel
• 02/24 Zaandam @ Zaantheater
• 02/27 Alkmaar @ Theater de Vest
• 02/28 Roosendaal @ Schouwburg De Kring
• 03/03 Amsterdam @ Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam
• 03/04 Amsterdam @ Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam
• 03/06 Maastricht @ Theater aan het Vrijthof
• 03/07 Venlo @ De Maaspoort
• 03/12 Den Haag @ Lucent Danstheater
• 03/13 Den Haag @ Lucent Danstheater
• 03/18 Kampen @ Stadsgehoorzaal Kampen
• 03/20 Zeist @ Figi Theater
• 03/21 Eindhoven @ Parktheater Eindhoven
• 03/25 Tilburg @ Theaters Tilburg
• 04/03 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 04/04 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 04/05 Rotterdam @ Rotterdamse Schouwburg
• 04/08 Oss @ Theater De Lievekamp
• 04/09 Assen @ De Nieuwe Kolk
• 04/10 Enschede @ Wilminktheater
• 04/14 Helmond @ Theater 't Speelhuis
• 04/15 Den Bosch @ Theater aan de Parade
• 04/16 Amstelveen @ Schouwburg Amstelveen
• 04/21 Hoorn @ Schouwburg Het Park
• 04/23 Groningen @ Stadsschouwburg Groningen
• 04/24 Arnhem @ Schouwburg Arnhem
• 04/28 Haarlem @ Stadsschouwburg Haarlem
• 04/30 Nijmegen @ Stadsschouwburg Nijmegen
• 05/01 Utrecht @ Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
• 05/02 Heerlen @ Parkstad Limburg Theaters
• 05/06 Leiden @ Leidse Schouwburg
• 05/09 Sneek @ Theater Sneek
• 05/12 Velsen @ Stadsschouwburg Velsen
• 05/13 Amersfoort @ Theater De Flint
• 05/16 Deventer @ Deventer Schouwburg

» scapinoballet.nl

HCTF review of Songs for Drella - the ballet.

John Cale: "A Dream"

Watch John Cale perform A Dream from Songs For Drella at the "secret set" for invited guests of the Kunstforum Wien only at the opening of the Warhol/Basquiat exhibition at the Palais Ferstel in Vienna on October 15th.

Cover Me: Nobody But You

Watch The Abigails video for their cover of Nobody But You, written by John Cale and Lou Reed for their Songs for Drella album. The clip was directed by Ben Maat.

» The Abigails on Facebook

Songs for Drella - the ballet: scene photos

photo: Hans Cornelissen

A photo gallery of the Songs For Drella performance by the Scapino Ballet. The show is on tour in The Netherlands.

» Songs For Drella

Songs for Drella - the ballet

photo: Scapino

Is it possible to transfer a rock album to the world of modern dance? Song For Drella, the tribute to Andy Warhol by John Cale and Lou Reed, was the last joint artistic effort by the founding members of the Velvet Underground. They used only their voices, electric guitar, keyboards and viola. A sparse record, put together with a lot of respect but not overlooking Warhol's quirks and flaws. During last nights première performance at the Stadsschouwburg in Rotterdam the Scapino Ballet proved that it can be done. Ed Wubbe & Marco Goecke created the choreography for Dutch ballet company Scapino. There were a few props involved, a gun was fired to mark the shooting of Warhol by Valerie Solanis, cheerleader pom poms made of aluminum foil, rattling pieces of paper, but no silver wigs or split screen movie projections to turn it into a multimedia event, safe for the start of the piece with a single dancer on stage and a rattling projector hanging overhead.

Not all songs of Drella were used. Slip Away (A Warning), It Wasn't Me, I Believe and Nobody But You were left on the shelf. Wubbe and Goecke added a bit of jazz and Big Apple Express from Cale's Stainless Steel Gamelan: Inside The Dream Syndicate Vol III album. This piece of avant-garde music made a part of the audience a bit restless, but it contained the best bit of the show from a musical point of vies when Trouble With The Classicists was faded in, keeping in time with the sound of the New York subway that inspired Cale's piece. Warhol was portrayed by two dancers, who projected his inner insecurities with jerky arm movements. The chosen jazz pieces were hit-and-miss. Oh no, babe by Jimmy Smith worked well, making a second appearance after the short first run of Big Apple Express and Mingus' Tijuana Gift Shop underlined the bric-à -brac life style of Warhol's youth. CG Train on the other hand grounded into s halt, the musical flow running out of steam in the process.

No sign of Warhol's beloved Maria Callas in the soundtrack, but that would have been a major challenge for the choreographers.

Ed Wubbe toyed with the idea to ask Cale and Reed to provide the music. But he realized that if that had actually happened, nobody would be interested in the dancers. The production is on tour in The Netherlands (February 18 - May 20, 2011).

Running order:

1. Smalltown
2. Tijuana Gift Shop (Charlie Mingus)
3. Open House
4. Style It Takes
5. Work
6. Oh No, Babe (Jimmy Smith)
7. David Bowie Screentest (no music)
8. CG Train (Charlie Mingus)
9. Starlight
10. Faces And Names
11. Big Apple Express
12. Oh No, Babe (Jimmy Smith)
13. Images
14. Big Apple Express
15. Trouble With The Classicists
16. A Dream
17. Forever Changed
18. Solo (no music)
19. Hello It's Me

» scapinoballet.nl
» Songs For Drella

Songs for Drella - the ballet

Ed Wubbe & Marco Goecke have created a choreography for Songs for Drella for Dutch ballet company Scapino.

The production is on tour in The Netherlands (February 18 - May 20, 2011). Ed Wubbe teamed up with John Cale in 1997 for a ballet about Nico.

» scapinoballet.nl
» Dance Music for the Nico Ballet
» Songs for Drella

(Thanks: Isabel Vogt)