About

Relache in Kaunus Lithuania 1992

The Story Behind the Story

Relâche is a French word that means “cancellation,” “theater is dark,” or “no performance today”

Relâche is a 1924 ballet by Francis Picabia with music composed by Erik Satie. The title was thought to be a Dadaist practical joke, as relâche is the French word used on posters to indicate that a show is canceled, or the theater is closed. The first performance was indeed canceled, due to the illness of Jean Börlin, the principal dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of the Ballets suédois. Picabia commissioned filmmaker René Clair to create a cinematic entr’acte to be shown during the ballet’s intermission. The film, simply titled Entr’acte, consists of a scene shown before the ballet and a longer piece between the acts. The nonsensical film features Picabia, Satie, and other well-known artists as actors. —[from Wikipedia]

You can hear the complete ballet music HERE

The Podcast Team

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Producer/Director

Arthur Stidfole

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Joseph studied music composition at the Philadelphia Musical Academy and Temple University. He has composed works for mixed instrumental/vocal ensembles, film, video, theater and dance. In 1977 he founded The Relâche Ensemble, which evolved into a presenting and producing organization as well as a performing grouop. He served as executive and artistic director until 1998. An archive of his tenure at Relache named The Relache Records is located in The Special Collections Research Center at Temple University Library. From 2004 to 2010 he was executive director of Chamber Music Albuquerque

Director

Joseph Franklin

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Collaborator

Joe Kasinskas

A Professor Emeritus in Performance Studies at Arizona State University’s School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, Arthur helped found ASU’s Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance Degree Program and taught at several other colleges including New York University  and Ohio University. As a journalist and arts writer, he has published widely on late 20th–21st century interdisciplinary performance, experimental theatre and music, literature, avant-garde studies and aesthetic research. He is currently collecting writing and essays with a focus on Robert Ashley, Lee Breuer, Fred Ho, Armand Schwerner and Annson Kenney.

Collaborator

Arthur Sabatini

Relache Performance at Drexel University Including interviews with Eve Beglarian and Fred Ho