Sieger Baljon – Bezweringen (Incantations)

Not six mouse clicks, but six physical handshakes separate us from the rest of humanity. Performer / sound poet Sieger Baljon looks under the hood of our world and pinches where it hurts. Baljon gathers the public in the forest around a sick patient, humanity. He conjures this up like a modern shaman, with music and dance and a good dose of humor. It is not for nothing that a shaman connects the best of the priest and the clown, and Baljon has both in house. With a jerry can as a ritual drum and a doctor’s coat as an excellent shaman costume, he explores the boundary between performance and ritual.

“The need for a shaman arises as soon as human society loses its inspiration, often linked to its original relationship with nature”
– Sieger Baljon

Why do we put this in front of you?
In a sense, Sieger was the starting point of our programming. With our search for modern rituals you will soon arrive at Shamanism. Sieger wrote a nice article about it and that made us think.
Can we be satisfied with our dealings with the earth and with each other? Is man a virus? You quickly end up in a negative line of thought. In spells, such themes are touched with music and dance in an energetic way. Sieger’s theater language is unique. elements of sound art, activist poetry, movement theater and clowning come along and make this a modern ritual with humor and depth ”
Jonathan Offereins, programmer

Credits

Concept, text, play: Sieger Baljon
Dramaturgy: Jonathan Offereins
Sound: Dennis van Tilburg
Techniek: Joshua Lagerwerf
Costume: Mirka Farabegoli
Decor: Wouter Elzinga
Special Thanks: Kunstraad Groningen, Welcome to The Village, Station Noord, Grand Theatre, Poortershoes, De Jongens, Het Huis Utrecht, Jasmin Hasler, Lara van den Bergh, Robin Block

Photo: Susana Martins