The choreographer and director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui on Idomeneo

Dutch audiences will have an opportunity to get to know Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui as an opera director in February 2025. His approach reflects his background in dance. “Every time I direct an opera, I aim to create a universe in constant motion within an art form that has traditionally been rather static. Through the interactions between dancers, singers and the chorus, I encourage audiences to listen differently. Opera music slows the passage of time, offering space for deep emotions. Dance, on the other hand, can speed up and intensify time to add a new layer and create a more intimate relationship with the music. The combination enhances the audience’s emotional experience by giving them an alternative perception of time.”

For Idomeneo, Cherkaoui is using his own dance company Eastman, a creative and inclusive group that knows no boundaries. “Eastman performers love movement, music and the stage, and are curious about human nature. What is important above all is creativity and a willingness to share, regardless of your education or identity. Nine dancers from seven countries — including Japan, Australia, Spain, Russia and Ukraine — were involved in the creation of Idomeneo.  Their diverse talents, ranging from contemporary dance to waacking, electro and tutting, influenced the production.”

Myths as a mirror

Cherkaoui tackled Mozart’s Idomeneo (1781) for his latest opera production, which premiered in Geneva last season. He sees an omnipotent king who refuses to give up his throne, even if that means he may have to sacrifice his own son. Cherkaoui recognised elements in it of our own times of crisis, in which political leaders have increasing powers and the future of new generations is under threat from the political decisions of their elders. 

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

“Those ancient myths function as a mirror for the conflicts that are tearing our world apart today. ”

“Those ancient myths function as a mirror for the conflicts that are tearing our world apart today. At first sight, they seem to be about supernatural events in a world populated by fantasy creatures — take the monster that attacks the kingdom of Crete in Idomeneo, for example. But these beings teach us that there are invisible, unwritten laws and if we violate those laws, we will put ourselves — and the generations after us — at risk of disaster. The attacks and bombings we see in the world today are no less monstrous. The old Greek myths follow the principle of action and reaction; they teach us that everything we do has consequences. Tragedy invites us to ask questions that transcend good and evil — disquieting questions about what we would do in these characters’ shoes. These myths appeal to our sense of responsibility.”

Making the invisible visible

In his stage direction, Cherkaoui has created a world that is malleable, fluid and hybrid, a world in which dance makes the invisible visible. “Mozart’s opera is populated with spirits: the killings of the Trojan War weigh upon the present like an unprocessed trauma. The younger characters are trapped in a past that is not theirs — like the Cretan prince Idamante and the Trojan princess Ilia, who fall in love despite the fact that Idamante’s father destroyed Ilia’s people. Dance has a unique ability to visualise absence. Dance reveals the invisible ties connecting the characters together and to a past that holds them prisoner.”

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

 “Dance has a unique ability to visualise absence”

These invisible bonds are visualised in this production through the creations of the Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota. “Her unique string installations emphasise the conscious and subconscious links between the characters. The dancers are constantly moving these ropes to construct ephemeral images. The luxuriant costumes created by the Japanese fashion designer Yuima Nakazato evolve along with the characters and illustrate the impact of the drama. Each community has its own colour: white for the Trojans, blue for the Cretans and red for the sea world. The costumes are not specifically Greek, or Japanese for that matter; they submerge us in a variety of cultures. They have a dual effect: the suits of armour are both militaristic and soft and vulnerable at the same time. They are often androgynous, so that for example the femininity of the character Idamante (Idomeneo’s son, who is played by a woman) is not denied.” 

No happy end

Cherkaoui decided to revise the opera’s conclusion. While the original opera ends with an apotheosis of happiness — in line with the conventions of opera seria — as Ilia and Idamante jointly take over power, Cherkaoui has gone for a more tragic finale. “The world today doesn’t work like that, and neither does the play Mozart based the opera on.” Cherkaoui has chosen an ending in which Idomeneo is indeed singing that he has handed over power, while we see something different happening in practice. “This reflects my worries when I see the news, in which we are confronted with the desire for revenge, with egocentrism, armed conflicts and bombings. Idomeneo serves as a warning of the dangers of autocratic power without sympathy for the people.”

Chiharu Shiota: stringing ideas together
The Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is renowned for her large installations made up of ropes, yarns and objects. Her installations are physical renditions of such abstract themes as identity, memory and loss. The yarn networks transform spaces and suggest the visible and invisible connections between people, memories and places. Shiota is concerned with the traces left by life — the moments, relationships and feelings that make us who we are. The multifaceted character of her installations invites viewers to give their own meanings to all the lines and structures. Her work expresses a universal language, reflecting on human experiences that transcend words.

Dutch text: Jasmijn van Wijnen

Idomeneo, re di Creta can be seen from February 7th to 23rd at Dutch National Opera & Ballet