emily dickinson band presents :::
sofie kokaj
from 21 to 25 april – 8.00 pm
What do we learn from a meeting? What exactly is a meeting? Isn’t it the very OPPOSITE of a “Rendez-vous!” [in the sense of a meeting but also of “Give yourselves up”] ?’ Sofie Kokaj
Emyly Dikinson (two Ys and no C), namesake of the American poet, lives in Brussels, on Quai du Commerce.
Returning home after a trip to New York, she discovers that her flat has expanded and that a set has been installed. She doesn’t remember ordering it and decides to call her neighbour Andy.
Following the familiar pattern of creation lasting 7 days and 7 nights (during which Emyly Dikinson has visions of God and her neighbour Andy), Sofie Kokaj continues her journey at La Balsamine and invites us, this season, to discover what we would probably like to call a show.
A choral show that conjures up America, America, America and its most iconoclastic figures. A show en français mais aussi in English pour dire je t’aime à Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kurt Cobain, Keith Haring, Ellis Island, Jim Jarmusch, Fran Lebowitz, Madonna, Miss America, Nico, Andy Warhol, John Waters et, of course, the most botanical of poets, Emily Dickinson.
Êtes-vous prêt pour un peu de poésie ?
‘SOFIE KOKAJ
Born stateless in Brussels in 1972
Into a family of Albanian political refugees
Naturalization as a Belgian citizen in 1978
Primary and secondary school in Brussels
Higher education at INSAS, directing & acting
This is not a love song, Balsamine 2008
Mange ta glace, Les Tanneurs 2014
Bad Boy Nietzsche!, Océan Nord 2019
I prefer stage writing to ancient texts
Working in spring or summer to working in the snow
Avoiding conflict since conflict can be avoided
Music is essential to me
and colour indispensable
Communities are fleeting, but friendships heavenly
I am looking for iconoclastic constellations’
Sofie Kokaj
Concept and direction: Sofie Kokaj
Assistant director: Billy Tschuy
Set design: Louise Mendes, Pauline Chavanon
Lighting design: Rémy Urbain
Costume design: Maya Buabizini
Technical direction: Florence Richard
Cast: Anaïs Aouat, Ashley Martin, Billy Tschuy, Bram Droulers, Guéva Jean Seibert, Julien Vasselin, Karim Barras, Laetitia Tshilemba, Lewis Forgeur, Louis Viste, Martin Villemonteix, Romain Pigneul, Sophie Sénécaut
Executive production: la Balsamine (Brussels, Be)
Co-production: la Balsamine (Brussels, BE), Varia – Théâtre & Studio (Brussels, BE),
Charleroi danse – Wallonia-Brussels Choreographic Centre (BE)
Support: Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Service général de la création artistique – Direction du théâtre, ING et Tax Shelter du Gouvernement fédéral belge