Ori Lichtik - Strong
Artwork Stong EP
No words can actually explain how incredibly intense the combination of music and dancing can be. But I will try it anyway. On the occasion of my visit on October 31st at the Staatsoper Berlin I watched the contemporary ballet performance Strong by Sharon Eyal with the music by Ori Lichtik.
I was not only able to witness the exceptional skill set of the ballet dancers. I was also able to observe to what extent the music was a crucial contribution to the dancing: I experienced music and the dance as two equal parts communicating with each other: it seemed like they responded to each other. Patterns of dance-expressed the music’s theme or spirit: For example, I clearly remember a moment when the track „Strongend” was brought in, creating a temperamental, driven atmosphere. The ballet dancers formed a straight line, closely standing together, taking each other by their hands to make small robotic movements back and forth. Their response to the music was perfectly matched to the music’s unrattled, stiff and conform theme. In contrast, the dancers also displayed movements as if they wanted to disagree with or counteract a certain musical theme: right at the beginning of the concert the track „Struße” set in, which started with marbling voices, that continuously became faster and faster. Out of this ever more hectic buzz of voices, the mumbling turned into a rhythm. The dancers, however, reversely moved to the hecticness of the song by forming a narrow formation making tiny but twitchy moments.
Throughout the ballet performance many of such interactions between dance and music occurred - I only mentioned two moments among many others. Every interaction had its own contextuality and gave room for interpretation. However, although the music was primarily there to support the dancing, it also enabled me to reminisce these movements after the performance ended: When I listen to the music now, it takes my mind back to the performance, even to specific movements.
As I am doing my research for this article, my observations are ’confirmed’ as I read an interview of Ori Lichtik with the theater Sanderl’s Wells:
“Usually we start from day zero together, which is quite peculiar as far as I understand in the dance world. I set up my equipment in the studio and just start playing from scratch. Sharon [the choreographer] is shooting out forms, movements and ideas from her body and I am playing music from my equipment and my computer. Everything we do is being recorded and we have tons of hours of recording. […] It [the music] is being carved until the last moment.”
To me this work process is visible in the performance, you at once realise that a lot of work and accuracy has been put in the process – from all contributors.
Notwithstanding the amazing dancing, the music by the Tel-Aviv composer Ori Lichtik stands out on its own as I listen to Strong EP. Ori started as a DJ and a drummer for parties and raves. Lichtik is seen as one of the founding fathers of Israeli techno in 1996. Since 2006 he works (among others) with the choreographer Sharon Eyal to compose the music for her dances.
„I started from techno which, for me, is a form of minimalist music.”, he explains, “I like to take the essence of other music genres too. […] My influences are stuff that is groovy and to find them out of places that are not necessarily obvious.”
His approach can be heard really clearly in Strong: On the basis of dark techno, he integrates elements of jazzy drumming as heard in “Ouvna”. Moreover for „Strongend” he supplements monotonic rhythms with atonal melodies of a violin and chello. The mood created feels extremely gory and intimidating. This also remains present in the last track „Housekeeper”: it resonates with a sassy and naughty touch. Once the sound of an old, rumbling tube comes in, you get aroused and amazed by this captivating pumping combination of unusual sounds.
Listen to Strong on Spotify:
