The small stage forms Josef Nadj launched in Spring 2008 all follow in the wake of “Entracte” (March 2008), each in their own way renewing and accentuating one of its central themes, if not its central theme: joining music and dance together in the closest possible relationship, conducting them to a point of complete balance, rendering indiscernible the respective part each played in the genesis of that which then becomes a feat, a performance. And to deepen this exploration, free improvisation here takes on its fullest expression – with all the presupposes of uniqueness and instantaneousness, of the unpredictable and unrepeatable. And also all it requires from each protagonist in the way of attentiveness and availability, openness to the other, to otherness, and to the present moment.
“With ‘Les Corbeaux’, Josef Nadj and Akosh Szelevényi, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist, continue their conversation, turning once again to the Nature of their natal region. As the title suggests, this performance piece is nourished by the patient meticulous scrutiny and observation of crows, in particular the fleeting instant when they touch ground, when the transition between flight and walk transpires. A third partner is invited to join this dance-music dialogue, expressing itself, ‘reacting freely’, giving voice to its silence: a black painting, liquid sheen, that across the thread of the musical and choreographic gestures, leaves its trace, bearing witness or capturing footprints of the passage of crows. And so, by way of the danced movement Nadj abandons himself to, movement which progressively engages his hand, face arm and then his entire body over the course of this improvisation - the state Nadj seeks to achieve is preparation for the pictorial gesture. His ‘becoming bird’ merges with his ‘becoming a brush’.”
Myriam Bloedé