KVS & les ballets C de la B

In 'Coup Fatal', Alain Platel takes us to Africa. As in his recent work – such as the sublime ‘C(h)oeurs’ and the equally poignant ‘Tauberbach’ – in this new production the voice also plays a central role. The Congolese countertenor Serge Kakudji and thirteen musicians from Kinshasa play pieces from the repertoire of baroque composers. Around this, the Brussels composer Fabrizio Cassol and guitarist Rodriguez Vangama create a new and contemporary music landscape. The result is an exuberant and organic whole of baroque phrasing, traditional and popular Congolese music, and rock and jazz. In other words, it is a concert. Also, the overall stage setting refers to the Congo. In Kinshasa the artist Freddy Tsimba created life-size sculptures of bullet casings, which he collected in the Congolese war zone. ‘Coup Fatal’ is also given the unadulterated brilliance of the perky ‘sapeurs’, the dandies of Kinshasa. In Alain Platel’s work, orthodoxy and intuition go hand in hand. He places dance, music and storytelling in a cross-border context, both literally and figuratively. ‘Coup Fatal’, which swings between exuberance and melancholy, between romanticism and realism, is a tribute to the elegance and raw exuberance of Congolese culture.