A Thousand Tongues

Biography

This performance-concert is a declaration of love for the human voice and fragility of life. A Thousand Tongues combines traditional songs from the current conflict areas of the Middle East with music originating from different parts of Europe. It intertwines these songs with images inspired by long forgotten stories from Mesopotamia, which are shrouded in mystery and speak of the divine feminine and primordial love. This piece invites us to reveal ourselves to one another more deeply, embrace vulnerability, self-reflection and self-expression. It welcomes us home to a place where we all are, above everything else, human beings.

Performer, artistic leader ― Nini Julia Bang
Director ― Samantha Shay
Dramaturg ― Jarosław Fret
Lighting design ― Nicole Pearce
Sound engineer ― Paul Evans
Technician ― Maciej Mądry
Director’s assistant ― Valerie McCann
Lighting designer's assistant ― Kate Ashton
Producers ― The Grotowski Institute, Source Material Collective
Premiere ― 7 November 2016

Nicole Pearce is a lighting designer for dance, theatre and opera based in New York City. Her recent credits include collaborations with choreographers Mark Morris, Aszure Barton, Alexander Ekman, Robert Battle, Kyle Abraham, Jessica Lang, John Heginbotham, Jorma Elo and Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa. Recent theatre credits include work with long-time collaborator Jade King Carroll and directors Edward Albee (The American Dream and The Sandbox), Leigh Silverman (Beebo Brinker Chronicles), Tip Cullman (US Drag and Edgewise), Pam MacKinnon (Savage in Limbo) and Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (The Golden Dragon). She has also collaborated with the Cherry Lane Theater, the Play Company, Philadelphia Theater Company and Williamstown Theater Festival. Upcoming projects include: a world premiere with Jessica Lang at Pacific Northwest Ballet and American Ballet Theater; Rhinegold with Minnesota Opera, a world premiere with John Heginbotham and violinist Joshua Bell; and Kata Kabanova with The Juilliard School.

nicolepearcedesign.com

As a theatrical performer, she conveys strong emotion through movement and facial expression, providing a complete experience for songs that evoke intense feeling. One of the most magical moments came when the light faded down to a single lamp on the floor of the stage. Bang eclipsed it and held the curtain before her, sometimes embracing it to where the shadow disappeared, then falling back so that the shadow of her body became an eerie ominous presence. I felt like I watched the struggle that she has with herself, that we all have within ourselves. A Thousand Tongues is a fitful meditation, or desperate prayer, and definitely spiritual at the core.

Sean Ongley | THRU Magazine
After hearing Bang sing for 35 minutes, I didn’t want to listen to anything else. I needed her voice to stay stuck in my head.

Sophia June | Willamette Weekly