Demeter Calling is a concert performance in which an entirely female cast mobilises the power of the singing body. The performers aim to draw attention to the gap between life as it is prescribed by other people and the life that they want. Stories of women dating back a hundred years, from various parts of the world, are turned into songs that call into question the notion of motherhood as a conservative focal point for female identity.
concept, text and direction
Sanja Mitrović
actors
Sanja Mitrović, Ana Naqe, Mahina Ngadu, Magda Ral
stage directions
Sara Vanderieck
music
Marija Balubdzić
costume design
Ivana Klicković
scenography
Laurent Liefooghe
lighting design
Giacomo Gorini
assistant to the director
Siniša Mitrović
staging advice
Gerardo Salinas
research
Tunde Adefioye
productiemedewerking
Miek Scheers
producer
Stand Up Tall Productions
co-producer
KVS
executive producer
Caravan Production
residency
KVS
with the support of
the Flemish Community
The performers from diverse backgrounds – including Sanja Mitrović herself – act as a medium that aligns and channels the voices of sisters all over the world, in different waves of history, geography, ethnicity and culture. In the limited space between the world that has passed and a new world at our feet, they are an unexpected girl band celebrating female power, resilience, determination and the courage to speak – and sing – of their own pain.
The Belgrade-based composer Marija Balubdzić has written new music especially for Demeter Calling, into which she incorporates a myriad of individual perspectives. Demeter Calling uses something as shared and accessible as a concert of music to invoke the corporeal, sensual and affective. In doing so, it highlights the nuances of the relationship between mother and child and, in the broader sense, the pitfalls of female survival.
