A musical tribute to the exotic sounds of “Martin Denny” accompanied by (dance and) magical shadowplay.
As a child, Vansina became fascinated by a phantasmagoria of his grandfather. Years later, he made a play for the school of his own children. As an accompaniment, he used ‘Exotica’ by Martin Denny. The combination of the phantasmagoria and Martin Denny’s exotic sounds created a magical and strange atmosphere. It gave Vansina the desire to elaborate this phantasmagoria to a full show with live music. Vansina however did not want to copy the music - the original is far too beautiful -and he asked his old friend and colleague Pierre Vervloesem, who has a great fascination for the exotica genre, to update the music.
The play is basically divided into short scenes that have been accurately put to the music as happens in film (the music of Martin Denny consists of songs of about 3 minutes maximum). Often the music gave them the reason to invent characters and events. Shadow and music are closely linked. Does the music accompany the shadows or is it vice versa, as a kind of video? Both perspectives or interpretations are possible. The two have the same importance and move together in an exotic dance.