Izmir Festival > Program > GENEVA CAMERATA - REVOLTA
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 ● AASSM Large Hall ● 21.00
GENEVA CAMERATA - RAVOLTA
David Greilsammer, Conductor and Artistic Director
Kader Attou, choreography
Grichka choreography, hip-hop and krump
Melissa hip-hop and krump
Dexter hip-hop and krump
Hendrickx hip-hop and krump
Program
Alexandre Mastrangelo, Battle Zone
Dmitri Shostakovich (ed. Jonathan Keren), Symphony No. 5 in D minor, op.47
GENEVA CAMERATA
(GECA)
Always ready to take on the wildest challenges, the orchestra has won numerous awards, including one from the New York Times, which wrote: "GECA has now changed the game in the world of classical music".
Acclaimed for its unusual multi-disciplinary shows fusing music, dance, theater and circus, Geneva Camerata also creates surprising encounters between different musical worlds, ranging from classical to jazz, baroque, contemporary, rock, electro and world music.
In recent seasons, GECA has created a number of extraordinary projects, including La Symphonie du Mirage with director and acrobat Yoann Bourgeois, Forever in your arms with Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Dance of the Sun with choreographer and dancer Juan Kruz Díaz de Garaio Esnaola, Revolta, directed by choreographers Kader Attou and Grichka and Titane with choreographer and dancer Marion Motin.
The orchestra has also collaborated with some of the world's leading artists, including Emmanuel Pahud, Gautier Capuçon, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Thomas Hampson, Isabelle Faust, Tigran Hamasyan, Avishai Cohen, Patricia Petibon, Richard Galliano, Isabelle Adjani, Sophie Marceau, Fanny Ardant, Angélique Kidjo, Buika, Lakecia Benjamin, Ibrahim Maalouf and Abd al Malik.
Alongside its concerts in Geneva, the orchestra tours extensively, performing at prestigious venues in Switzerland and abroad, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Arts Center in Seoul, Musashino Hall in Tokyo, Sala São Paulo and 92Y in New York.
Revolta
Geneva Camerata (GECA) presents a unique encounter between the world of krump - a hip hop dance style born in the suburbs of Los Angeles - and one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of music, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. Performed by heart by the orchestra's musicians, who dance simultaneously alongside the four hip hop dancers Grichka, Dexter, Hendrickx, and Melissa, this powerful performance explores a range of current social themes, such as tolerance, courage and freedom.
David Greislammer, musical and artistic director
Recognised as one of today’s most audacious conductors and pianists, David Greilsammer has brought to life numerous innovative projects, world premieres, as well as ground-breaking encounters between different arts and cultures.
Released by Naïve, his most recent solo album, named Labyrinth, has received more than ten international prizes and has been hailed by the press, describing it as ‘radical’, ‘courageous’, and ‘astounding’. His other recordings, released by Sony Classical, have been awarded many distinctions, including from The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Sunday Times.
Also acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations, David Greilsammer has performed all of Mozart’s Piano Sonatas in a one-day “marathon” in Paris, and more recently, he has played and conducted all of Mozart’s twenty-seven piano concertos, in nine consecutive concerts.
Since 2013, David Greilsammer has been serving as Music and Artistic Director of the Geneva Camerata, one of the most adventurous and daring orchestras internationally. He has recently appeared as conductor/soloist with the BBC Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Symphoniker Hamburg, Orchestra Verdi di Milano, Israel Symphony, Philharmonique de Radio France, and Orquesta Sinfónica Naciónal de México.
Always revealing eclectic and fascinating programmes, his piano recitals have been presented in numerous venues worldwide, including Lincoln Center in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall in London, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, Forbidden City Theatre in Beijing, and The National Theatre of Namibia.
In addition to his diverse activities and projects, in 2022 David Greilsammer became Music Director of the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, in Colombia.
Kader Attou, Choreography
Recognised as one of the greatest pioneers of contemporary and hip hop dance, Kader Attou continues to revolutionise the world of choreography and urban dance. Thanks to a humanist approach that fuses genres and cultures, Kader Attou has been helping to integrate the world of hip hop into today's choreographic language for many years.
A child of immigrants, he explores questions of identity, difference and otherness, transforming them into a place of convergence where a community of bodies and emotions is built. From the outset, Kader Attou has been passionate about urban dance, which he sees as an artistic discipline of exceptional poetry and strength, as well as a means of questioning the human condition. To explore this approach further, he and a number of young dancers set up the CieAccrorap, which went on to become one of the leading contemporary dance companies in the world.
In 2008, Kader Attou was appointed director of the Centre Chorégraphique National de La Rochelle, becoming the first choreographer from the hip hop world to head a national institution in France. In 2013, Kader Attou was promoted by the President of the French Republic to the rank of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts and in 2015, he was also named Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur.
Grichka, Choreography, hip hop and krump dance
As a child, Grichka impressed those around him with his exceptional talent as a dancer. Spotted by a number of choreographers and dancers, he began training in a wide range of styles at an early age, from classical ballet to African dance, hip hop and contemporary dance. At the age of eleven, he discovered
urban dance with choreographers Kader Attou and Dominique Lisette. In 2005, through David LaChapelle's documentary RIZE, he discovered his favourite dance, krump, which enabled him to express his personality, his mixed-race roots and his spirituality with energy. He soon decided to go back to the roots of this movement, and in 2006 went to where it all began: the ghettos of Los Angeles. In 2008, he joined the NY Madness Fam in the United States, giving him the status of precursor and initiator of the krump movement in Europe. Grichka has taken part in numerous battles and twice won the EBS world krump championship.
Also an international krump and hip hop teacher, in 2019 he decided to delve into the world of contemporary choreography and directing, to propose a new show, Birth. In 2021, he was invited by TanzKomplizen Theater and the Offensive Association in Germany to choreograph A Human Race, a piece exploring the subject of structural racism, with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring as the music. In 2023, he choreographed the opening ceremony of the first Cultural Talents Tournament in Saudi Arabia. He has also choreographed the last two opening ceremonies of Roland Garros alongside the conductor Zahia Ziouani and her Divertimento orchestra.
Melissa, Choreography, hip hop and krump dance
A dancer from an early age, Melissa began her training with jazz dance and rhythmic gymnastics. At the age of thirteen, she was spotted by several dancers and choreographers in France, who introduced her to urban dance, hip hop and street dance. She went on to train with one of the world's leading urban dance teachers, Afid Zekhnini. Her talent soon propelled her into an international career, as a guest with several prestigious European dance companies. In 2006, Melissa moved to Paris and began working with a number of choreographers on the French contemporary scene.
In 2008, she discovered the krump movement, which allowed her to unleash all her energy and passion. She quickly became the winner of several international awards in krump and hip hop dance competitions. She decided to found the Madrootz Collective - a group of pioneers of European krump - and created a number of choreographic projects and events with famous European and American dancers and choreographers. Over the years, Melissa has also taken part in numerous social and charitable projects, combining dance with the human values she holds dear.
DEXTER, hip hop and krump
Originally from Liberia in Africa, Dexter was forced to leave his country at a very young age because of the many political and military conflicts. As a child, he was forced to travel between various African countries, hoping one day to return to his homeland. Despite this complicated childhood, several dancers spotted his talent and creativity and encouraged him to perfect his style and artistic language. In 2006, he discovered the krump movement, which enabled him to develop a particular style of movement inspired by the concept of animality, spirituality and various styles - between tradition and experimentation.
He won numerous international competitions and quickly became a benchmark on the African hip-hop scene. Following his first successes as a professional dancer, his mentors encouraged him to pursue an international career. After perfecting his skills in the Sunu Street style in Senegal, he decided to immerse himself in the world of contemporary dance, hoping to create a dialogue between traditional African choreography, contemporary dance and hip hop. He was soon invited by various companies to perform as
part of tours that took him to France, Belgium, Denmark, Russia and South Africa. Spotted by the famous French dancer Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Dexter is now recognised for his unique artistic language, elegantly blending the traditions of his native Africa with several contemporary choreographic languages. In 2022, Dexter performed at the Festival d'Avignon with dancer Julien Derouault, as part of the creation of Dans la solitude des champs de coton, a show choreographed and directed by Marie-Claude Pietragalla.
Hendrickx, hip hop and krump
With her amazing technique and boundless charisma, Hendrickx, or Hendrickx Ntela as she was originally known, is recognised as one of the most talented artists of the young generation of urban dancers. Of Congolese and Angolan origin, she performs a wide range of contemporary dance styles, including hip hop, krump, kuduro and afrohouse, and is widely acclaimed as a fearless freestyle dancer and one of the few African representatives of krump on the international scene. Thanks to her intense, virtuoso and authentic style, the young dancer is now in demand from numerous dance companies in Europe and the United States.
Hendrickx has worked with Brahim Rachiki, Kader Attou and Grichka, all true pioneers of krump and hip hop in Europe. She has also been involved in a number of social projects, combining dance, theatre and help for the underprivileged. Thanks to these exchanges and encounters, she was recently able to create her own dance company, called Hendrickx Company. Made up of drummers, instrumentalists, actors, rappers and slammers, this young company's mission is to bring the urban arts to a wider public, and she recently joined BBF 2.0, a young and ingenious 100% female urban dance company.
Dmitry Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
Moderato
Allegretto (Scherzo)
Largo
Allegro non troppo
In 1936, the Soviet government launched an official attack against Dmitri Shostakovich's music, calling it "vulgar, formalistic, [and] neurotic." He became an example to other Soviet composers, who rightfully interpreted these events as a broad campaign against musical modernism. This constituted a crisis, both in Shostakovich's career and in Soviet music as a whole; composers had no choice but to write simple, optimistic music that spoke directly (especially through folk idioms and patriotic programs) to the people and glorified the state.
In light of these circumstances, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony (first performed in 1937) is a bold composition that seems to fly in the face of his critics. Although the musical language is pared down from that of his earlier symphonies, the Fifth eschews any hint of a patriotic program and, instead, dwells on undeniably somber and tragic effects -- wholly unacceptable public emotions at the time. According to the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the government would certainly have had Shostakovich executed for writing such a work had the public ovation at the first performance not lasted 40 minutes. The official story, however, is quite different. An unknown commentator dubbed the symphony "the creative reply of a Soviet artist to justified criticism," and to the work was attached an autobiographical program focusing on the composer's metamorphosis from incomprehensible formalist to standard-bearer of the communist party. Publicly, Shostakovich accepted the official interpretation of his work; however, in the controversial collection of his memoirs (Testimony, by Solomon Volkov) he is quoted as saying: "I think it is clear to everyone what happens in the Fifth. The rejoicing is forced, created under threat...you have to be a complete oaf not to hear that."
Regardless of its philosophical underpinnings, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 is a masterpiece of the orchestral repertory, poignant and economical in its conception. There is no sign of the excess of ideas so common in the Fourth Symphony. Instead, Shostakovich deploys the orchestra sparingly and allows the entire work to grow naturally out of just a few motives. Given some of his earlier works, the Fifth is conservative in language. Throughout the work he allows the strings to be the dominant orchestral force, making soloistic use of the woodwinds and horn especially effective. The Moderato begins with a jagged, foreboding canon in the strings that forms the motivic basis for the entire movement. The impassioned mood is occasionally interrupted by a lyrical melody with string ostinato, later the subject of a duet for flute and horn.
The second movement (Allegretto) is a grotesque 3/4 dance which, at times, can't help but mock itself; the brass section is featured prominently. The following Largo, a sincere and personal outpouring of musical emotion, is said to have left the audience at the work's premiere in tears. Significantly, it was composed during an intensely creative period following the arrest and execution of one of Shostakovich's teachers.
The concluding Allegro non troppo has been the center of much debate: some critics consider it a poorly constructed concession to political pressure, while others have made note of its possible irony. While the prevailing mood is triumphant, there is some diversion to the somber and foreboding, and it is not until the end that it takes on the overtly "big-finishy" character for which it is so noted. Description by Allen Schrott
