BATTE CUORE
When was the last time you listened to your heart?
As a musician, I have been involved in multidisciplinary projects throughout my career. I am passionate about combining different disciplines as a means toward artistic and personal transformation. My first experience as a theater artist was as an actor in the show Fenix, produced in Switzerland by Teatro Pan and presented in Lugano, Zurich, Bellinzona and Mexico City. Since then, working in and with other disciplines has been very important both personally and artistically. Of equal importance to me has been the interweaving of multiple languages, including the language of music.
Having the possibility of becoming a sonic character on the stage has become a journey of self - discovery. This has also had an impact on my pedagogy and is reflected in my book, The Conscious Musician and in my upcoming book The Invisible Force of Music.
Since being a music student, I have experienced the importance of collaborating with other arts to find freedom in the act of performance. I have found that when music also becomes a character, the communication with the audience is much deeper and more authentic.
After many years of working on interdisciplinary projects I am thrilled to bring to life a “musical monologue” where I become a sonic character on the stage. The power of storytelling can take the music to a much deeper level. The desire is to enchant the audience, to touch the listener in profoundly, unknowable ways. Since I have lived in 3 countries I felt the need of creating a script that contains the languagues of those countries. It is written in a way that an enlgish, italian and spanish native speaker will understand the story telling.
The idea of this performance came to me after getting the certification of HeartMath Mentor with the HeartMath Institute. The course is about heart intelligence and how this can have an impact on our lives. Since getting the certification I have experienced music and art on a far more expansive level. And I have witnessed how this has also helped my students to have a more profound relationship with music and performing.
My participation on this performance is as a violinist, singer, and actor. Liza Balkan is collaborating as a dramaturg and director. Liza and I collaborated on “Mirrors” a show with dancer Lucy Rupert. Mirrors was premiered at the Citadel Theatre in Toronto in 2019 with the support of Ontario Arts Council. Since that experience I have always desired to work with Liza again. In our initial conversation we talked about heart intelligence and its impact in performing arts and how creating a storytelling will transform each musical piece into a different key that will unlock the audience’s hearts. A key component is inviting the public on this journey of discovery and how the works of Bach, Corelli and original compositions become part of the cast for the story telling.
Batte Cuore is a journey that would like to give people the possibility of going within their hearts through sounds and sensations of the pieces, script, and voice. It is a conscious listening that can lead everyone to whatever it needs to transform within themselves in the moment. In these challenging times, arts have a crucial role to give people the opportunity to find within them selves the light and joy that lies in their souls. More than ever we need to get in touch with our hearts as we travel forward in these precarious times as a community, country and planet. We need to be reminded to stop and listen and connect with each other and with our deeper selves.
The story line is based on my own personal experience in Lugano while I was studying at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana. It is a story of a young musician that after the dead of her father decides to pursue her passion in a country that is not hers. When she arrives to that country she enconters a teacher that breakes her confidence and passion for music. But one day she discovers the power that lies within her and the journey to open her heart and take her power back just beggings.Transformation, wonder, reflection, and curiosity are key elements in “Batte Cuore.” The performance is in Spanish, Italian and English and 60 min in length. It is geared for a general audience.
PROGRAM
La Follia by A. Corelli
Batte Cuore by Paulina Derbez,
Fugue in G Minor by J.S. Bach
Vento by Paulina Derbez
La Chacona (extract) by J.S. Bach
Reflections of the Heart by Paulina Derbez
In the Area of the Heart by Frank Horvat
CREDITS
Paulina Derbez, violin, voice, script and acting
Liza Balkan, dramaturg, and director
Noah Feaver, light designer
Mitch Cook, sound design
Frank Horvat, composer
Factory Theatre Toronto, venue
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