Emanuel Gat - Emanuel Gat Dance

The title of Emanuel Gat's new performance 'The Goldlandbergs' alludes to two historical recordings that run through the performance like two musical layers. The first is a 1977 radio documentary by the American pianist Glenn Gould, called 'The Quiet Land'. It is the portrait of a Mennonite community in Northern Canada. The second is the masterly recording of Bach's 'Goldberg Variations', performed by Gould in 1981, a few months before his death. Yet its multi-layered character is not limited to the musical score. As well as presenting a danced homage to Gould, Emanuel Gat also wants to recount a family history, without lapsing into narrative dance. His is fascinated by social structures and their impact on individual behaviours. And uses the body to bear witness to complex and dynamic human relationships. Art and life fuse into one. Or as Glenn Gould said: "The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary secretion of adrenalin but is, rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity." 'The Goldlandbergs' was created during a temporary residency at deSingel and will be premiered in Montpellier in June 2013.