FAREWELL (English)
Perry Gits creates the multidisciplinary production FAREWELL.
In FAREWELL, Perry Gits transports the audience to a world where grief and loss are given space. Supported by light art, live music, and influences from the club scene, he explores how a new generation says goodbye and reimagines rituals. The piece honors those who forge their own paths, who are often “othered,” who don’t follow established rituals, and therefore often die unseen. FAREWELL demonstrates that there is room for new ways of grieving and honoring, and invites the audience on a journey to a new beginning.
A production by Tafel van Vijf Muziektheater with a pop-up exhibition by Museum Tot Zover.
Don’t miss this unique movement performance and order your tickets now!
Texture, Temperature, Time
In 2024, Perry Gits was artist-in-residence at BAU, Amsterdam. He conducted research on the themes of loss and death, focusing on Ghanaian funeral services. In FAREWELL, he continues this research, focusing specifically on three elements: texture, temperature, and time. He examines the role these elements play and their importance when discussing death.
A Unique Experience
In this unique movement performance, which takes place in a specially designed immersive environment, designed by Liza Houben, in which the audience is also seated, Perry Gits transports the audience to a coming-of-age story about the celebration of life and death. Two musicians (Azubike Onwuka, Phantom Wizard, and musical compositions by Arakaza and Nawaz) bring hypnotic sounds ranging from ambient and electronics to punk. This performance takes place in a specially designed Claywalk (a catwalk made of earth and clay). Perry Gits invites the audience on a journey to a new beginning. There’s a dress code: come dressed in red and black*.
Language-No-Problem
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Dialogue between dance and music
The live music of Phantom Wizard and Azubike Onwuka, along with a musical composition by Arakaza and Nawaz, creates drama, harmony, and melody. In this performance, music is not the foundation for the dance, but rather engages in dialogue with it: while Perry dances, the musicians improvise, and vice versa. An almost symbiotic collaboration where the two art forms blend as closely as possible.
Dress code: red and black*
Perry Gits invites you, the audience, to come together in red and black. By dressing together in these colors, we share a sense of connection. This dress code for the audience was chosen because it symbolically refers to Ghanaian funeral rituals, where black represents grief and mourning and red the intensity and emotional pain of loss. Thus, the performance unfolds as a search for connections between old and new rituals.
Perry Gits
Perry Gits is a performance artist and studied at the Lucia Marthas dance schools and the Amsterdam University of the Arts. He danced and performed roles in the musicals Hair and Dreamgirls. Perry Gits belongs to the first generation of the vogue/ballroom community in the Netherlands, is co-organizer of The Black Pride Ball, and works as a booker/programmer in the Amsterdam club and festival scene.
Prijswinnaar*
In 2022, Perry Gits won the Golden Cricket for best stage performance in a youth theater production in the 2021/2022 season. He received this prestigious stage award, presented annually by the VSCD, for his multidisciplinary performance in PERRY (14+).
In 2021, Perry Gits won the North Holland Cultural Prize, awarded annually by the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund North Holland to an individual, group, or institution that has made an exceptional contribution to culture, amateur arts, or nature conservation. The prize is awarded annually in a different region of the province of North Holland. In 2021, it was the Amsterdam region’s turn.
Exhibition and partner
The traveling exhibition at FAREWELL by Museum Tot Zover invites you to reflect on cultural and personal rituals and traditions surrounding life and death.
Museum Tot Zover is located on the grounds of De Nieuwe Ooster cemetery in Amsterdam. The museum collects objects and stories about history, contemporary culture, and how we deal with life, death, and saying goodbye. Exhibitions range from permanent presentations to changing displays.
Credits
Creator and performer Perry Gits
Final direction Dionne Verwey
Danceconsultant Nicole Geertruida
Outside eye Peggy Olislaegers
Scenography and Lightdesign Liza Houben
Musical composition Nawaz, Arakaza, Phantom Wizard, Azubike Onwuka
Musical advice Rory Ronde, Yariv Vroom
Live music Phantom Wizard, Azubike Onwuka
Costume direction and styling Ricardo van Lachterop
Costume designs Esmay Wagemans, Dylan Westerweel
Trailer concept, Film and Direction Anna van der Velde
Scene photography Nella Ngingo
MUA trailer and scene photos Bjorn Mohamadmoesman
PR Okra Agency
Technicians Pepijn Stutterheim, Urban Bendanon
Campagne image Studio Polat
MUA campagne image Shelley Lashley
Location Campaign image Visser Automotive BV
Production manager Zarah Ruwhof, Rosalie Witte
Host and production Thomas Nicoll
Exposition Museum Tot Zover
This program is made possible by:
