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New Ballet for Xala

by Ania Losinger

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AniaXala
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Don Li originally composed this work for Xala and the Bern Symphony Orchestra (performed in 2003) and later rewrote it for Xala, Tonus String Quartet and surround electronics.

    Includes unlimited streaming of New Ballet for Xala via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

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  • DVD

    Multiangle DVD of the performance New Ballet for Xala with surround sound. Composed by Don Li for Xala, Tonus String Quartet and surround electronics. Video by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud. DVD is available in PAL and NTSC format.
    ships out within 3 days

      25 CHF or more 

     

1.
New Ballet For Xala 57:40
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Ania Losinger – Xala
Tonus String Quartet:
Katryn Hasler – Violin, Simon Heggendorn – Violin, David Schneebeli – Viola, Carlo Niederhauser – Cello

Just as in the 16th century, a scenic dance performance accompanied by music that was specifically composed for or chosen for this purpose would be called a ballet, the "New Ballet For Xala" features a suite-like program made up of seven TONUS-MUSIC parts that have been formulated for Xala. Because of the tonal restrictions of this instrument, Don Li concentrated on the quality of the rhythmic structure and a homogenous sounding orchestration. In this sense, the string quartet and computer sounds not only enhance Ania Losinger's playing poles and shoes, but, at the same time, accentuate the underlying acoustical elements that are produced by the wood and metal of the Xala.

XALA
Xala is the first floor-xylophone in the world. This unique instrument was created in 1998/99 by dancer and music performer Ania Losinger in cooperation with inventor and instrument designer Hamper von Niederhäusern. Composed of 24 chiming wooden and metal bars, with a total area of 4.5 square meters and a weight of 400 kilograms, this acoustic instrument is played using Flamenco shoes and 6ft.high staffs. While dancing the choreographed arrangement of the repetitive, rhythmical compositions, the body of the performer seems to become weightless. At the same time, the play between bodyweight and equilibrium on the vibrating sounds of the Xala creates a unique phrasing of the musical structure. The complex technical transformation of a simple idea, that of making music by dancing, is what brought the Xala into being. It builds a bridge between acoustic and visual expression, between archaic and modern sound, and opens up new spaces in the realm of artistic expression.

credits

released May 6, 2004

Disc total time 58.00
Composed, arranged and produced by Don Li
Executive produced by Ania Losinger, Roland Aeschbacher, Don Li

Programmed, recorded, edited by Don Li
Recorded, mixed at Tonus-Music Labor Bern by Hanspeter Ehrsam
Mastered by Walter Rohrbach
Cover art by Benjamin Pfäffli
Photo by Martin Möll
Video by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud

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Ania Losinger Edition Rumisberg, Switzerland

Born in Switzerland in 1970, musician-dancer Ania Losinger invented and developed 1998 the acoustic instrument Xala. It is made of wooden and metal sound bars and is played by dancing upon it, with flamenco shoes and man high poles. Today, three Xalas of varying size and timbre exist. With Xala, Ania found her form of expression that unites dance and music, in equal measure, in one single person. ... more

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