ZUAM

Step into the world where spoken words are no longer the only language, where sound and movement reveal the deepest secrets. Welcome to ZUAM, an immersive opera experience that transports you to a timeless dimension, hovering between prehistory and the distant future. In this performance, you’ll be immersed in a ritual that is both mysterious and awe-inspiring—a place where technology, music, and dance come together to explore the unspoken and touch the subconscious.

This is a journey that stimulates all your senses. All you need to do is to open yourself to it… – On this page, you can read more about the performance and about us, the Futurists.

About ZUAM

ZUAM is an on-location opera ritual for three opera singers, a deaf dancer, electronics, and video. It tells the story of an ancient-futuristic tribe living in a world suspended between prehistory and the distant future. Over the course of a 1,5h long experience, ZUAM explores communication using Sign Language and the UrSprache, the proto-language studied by Futurist poets, Antonin Artaud and Peter Brook. ZUAM is an attempt to reconnect with the inner self. It offers a meditative experience for the battered 21st-century soul, overwhelmed and slightly lost in a rapidly changing world. The goal is to give you, as a visitor, a metaphysical and cathartic experience that temporarily shuts off the outside world.

The Music and technology of ZUAM

The music of ZUAM is inspired by Jerzy Bielski’s discoveries in the extended non-verbal vocal field, as well as by the traditional music of the Inuit, Tibetan, Sioux, Zulu, and Balinese peoples. These musical influences are combined with Celtic war instruments and Tibetan ritual horns, all heavily processed with electronics. Technology plays a significant role in the performance. The audience is spread out in an open space, surrounded by a circle of light tubes between two 4-meter-high monoliths. One monolith is made of speakers, the other of LED screens that project rhythmic shapes, tribal patterns, and the faces of our ancestors.

Our Mission

As the Futurists, we have set ourselves an important mission. Inspired by the Futurist art movement of the early 20th century, we focus on creating innovative, interdisciplinary, and immersive experiences for the audience of the 21st century. We are fascinated by the search for new forms, stories, and technologies, while bringing together people from different cultures and backgrounds in our projects and performances.

We aim to:

Offer meaningful experiences full of hope and reflection that deeply move and evoke positive memories.
Create a sense of community by bringing together people from different cultures and backgrounds in our performances.
Collaborate with deaf and hard-of-hearing artists to develop interdisciplinary productions and bridge the gap between able-bodied and disabled artists.
Develop a new artistic aesthetic using latest digital technologies.
Create performances in the most sustainable way, reducing air travel and the use of environmentally harmful materials.
Promote collaboration with other organisations, as we believe this enriches all parties involved and benefits the performance.
Create a safe, inclusive, and diverse working environment where everyone feels valued and respected, in accordance with the Governance Code Cultuur, Fair Practice Code, Code Diversiteit & Inclusie, and the Dutch Collective Labour Agreement for Theatre and Dance.

Inclusivity and Accessibility

Thanks to new technology and Sign Language, ZUAM is accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences—a significant step toward greater inclusivity in Dutch theater. The opera ritual is both a rebellion against known reality and a ceremony that invokes the mystery of existence.

“I was born deaf, so the first years of my childhood were completely silent. Dancing suits me; it’s my form of expression without standing out in the crowd. I belong somewhere, and people respect me for who I am. My dream is to contribute to greater equality for disabled people within the Dutch theater sector.” – Pawel Moleda, cast member of ZUAM

Credits

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