3Seasons

3Seasons probes our disposable society and our attachment to material things.

It is less a judgment than a reflection.
Objects tie us in place, weigh us down.
They divide us from each other, soil us, and imprison us.
Our world is not stable or predictable.
Human actions change our climate.

Weather patterns blur, social ideals transform, seasons are no longer distinct. A constant—our need to find connection. We believe we are unique individuals, yet we repeat patterns set out by our predecessors.

Motifs & Characters

Extreme visions of stylized feminine beauty develop throughout the piece in a caricature representing the perceived requirement to conform to social beauty. Likewise, male virility, and the urge to conquer is explored. These caricatures are personified by the cast, who also embody the need for connection, passion and sensuality.

Kaori — The suggestion of an Ideal, a pristine beauty emerges. The giver/ nurturer sets the stage. Throughout the piece, she is the reminder of nature as the source of life.

Jim — The human and observer. Overcome by the need to own, to possess, he is the red thread tying us all together, experiencing our journey simultaneously as protagonist and witness.

Music

In Olivier Wever’s reconfigured 3Seasons, Byron Au Yong’s soundscape replaces one of the Vivaldi Seasons.

Spring

Opening, a moment in time, a struggle for truth to one’s nature. Hoarding, as objects replace human ties, we are boxed in, caged by the desire to possess. Connection section, we yearn to find a common link while striving to break free and leave an individual legacy.

Summer

Ensemble/duet, the paradox of loneliness in urban crowds and the beauty of finding a connection in the fray.

Solo, found objects/events enter our lives, sidetracking us, diverting our paths. Violation, we bear distracted witness to the abuse of our Ideal, allowing our most valued treasure to be tarnished before our eyes.

Autumn

Ensemble, jaunty couples rejoice in the pride of life and celebrate sensuality.

The kiss/tree of life duets, branches grow and roots are put down, connecting, anchoring. Women, the cycle of fecundity—love, harvest, death, renewal… reinterpreted by each new generation.

Winter

Baroque ensemble, plastic disposable society amasses and discards objects, injecting poisons into our bodies in search of an artificial beauty Solo/ensemble, we feed on ourselves and others on us, consuming, overusing and destroying.

The triumph of trash, we discard our most prized possession to maintain our creature comforts, soiling and disposing of whatever is no longer shiny and new.