Adieu celebrates the life and work of Derek Jarman (1942-1994), the filmmaker, director, painter, gardener, activist and writer, 25 years after his death. During his last years, while losing his eyesight, health and loved ones because of AIDS, he created some of his most important and insightful works, and brought a garden of colour and life to the stony landscape of Dungeness. 

 

The work is set to Stockhausen’s 'Adieu', a wind quintet he created after the death of a friend's young child. Inspired by the strict composition of paintings by Piet Mondrian, Stockhausen's score is based on the Fibonacci sequence. 'Adieu' is a reflection on the transience of experience, the order of nature and the beauty of innocence. Thick & Tight and Corali Dance Company will transport you to a place that exists between a flowering sea, a nuclear garden and a primary coloured dream.

 

Thick & Tight created this work with Corali Dance Company, a leading company in the UK for work created by artists with a learning disability. It was first performed in April 2019 at The Place, London and subsequently played at Sadler's Wells as part of London International Mime Festival.

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The role of Derek Jarman is performed by Bethan Kendrick, Jackie Ryan, Paul Davidson, Housni (DJ) Hassan, Veneshia Bailey, Graham Evans, Danny Smith, Daniel Hay-Gordon & Eleanor Perry

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Design: Tim Spooner

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Music: Karlheinz Stockhausen

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Film: Daniel Hay-Gordon