The inspiration for Windy Days begins in the obscure moments when oppression is revealed within the storms of history, like a breath of wind dissolving what blocks our view and revealing unvoiced or unseen individual stories. The work commemorates those who disappeared, invoking historical dances of emancipation and remembrance such as Cueca Sola on Plaza de Mayo. Disembodied voices from far away and long before are brought forth by the performers in an act of remembering.
Windy Days unfolds in seven fragments, drawing on folk elements, oscillating between chaos and order, each initiated with a game rule. Like passing days, these fragments contain the moments when a social structure emerges and then fails, as is inevitable with time. Does chaos emancipate us from order, or vice versa?
2. Graphic score
Music for Windy Days is written for the historical instrument harmonium combined with electronic and vocal sounds, balancing minimalist composition and live improvisation.
Harmonium
The performers first appear wrapped in wind objects — fabrics fixed in the form of a specific moment. They draw reference to the historical time of Humanism, seen through the gaze of the Anthropocene, where nature is illustrated with a sense of naivety within civilization. This gesture aligns with the “illustration of civilization” embedded in the game rules of the piece. After the prelude sequence, these objects are left on the floor, becoming part of the space with a slow temporality slightly out of time. Sometimes elevating, sometimes drifting, they move lightly through the space throughout the performance, incorporating aerodynamics.
The performers are now revealed in old uniforms from a time long ago and far away — once full of meanings and identities, which have become blurry over time. Hidden lines of messages and names are sewn into the uniforms. They become visible only when looked at closely, as if a secret to be shared intimately with the audience.
Countess of Castlehaven, 1638, Anthony van Dyck
La Danse, 1909, Henri Matisse
Őcsényi karikázó (Hungarian Folk Dance)
La cueca sola
Szél (Wind), 1996, Marcell Iványi