In 2013, Andy was invited to Northern Ireland to collaborate with choreographer Dylan Quinn and German dance artist Jenny Ecke on a project derived from the works of playwright Samuel Beckett – in particular the short play Catastrophe. Together they created FULCRUM – a minimal dance theatre piece that reflects on the nature of control from personal relationships through to dominant culture.
The music for FULCRUM pivots between dark ground-shaking textures and skeletal layers of countertenor voice and strings.
Andy uses these sonic environments to ‘zoom in’ on aspects of control / manipulation intimated in Catastrophe. Rhythms are formed from the tiniest glottal sounds that lie between spoken words or the act of writing Catastrophe text. Melodies are formed from subtle notes contained in whispers. At other points during the piece Andy uses inductive sound – where the music can be ‘felt’ before it is heard.
Whilst still in its development stage, FULCRUM was chosen for Re-presenting Ireland in its unfinished form. Since the premiere of the completed work at the International Beckett Festival it has been selected by Culture Ireland for international performances and was re-visited in 2018 to be performed on a specially constructed stage straddling a stream that makes up part of the Irish border. As the dancers performed they were literally moving from between countries.
“Excellent score…” Irish Times
“On a darkened stage, Garbi’s soundscape is heard in the distance like a gathering wind, building to gale force in sound and impact…Garbi’s score mutates into a sequence of intriguing abstract sounds, haunting chants, terrifying bombardment effects and primeval groans and creaks, which seem to emanate from the very depths of the ground beneath us.” Culture Northern Ireland