Film (DVD+CD)

through this looking glass, 2010

piece for prepared piano, toy piano, electronics, mobile and props
music, concept and performance by joana sá
film directed by daniel costa neves
mobile designed by rita sá

"through this looking glass" had the Award for Best Portuguese Film at Film Award for Films on Art, Festival Temps d'Images 2011
"through this looking glass" was selected for Lausanne Film & Music Festival 2013

BANDCAMP

Through this looking glass is a piece by Joana Sá for prepared piano, toy piano, electronics, props and a mobile, with strong scenic and performance features. Inspired by the surreal and dreamlike world of Lewis Carroll and exploring the relationship between music and poetry, the piece is divided into two different parts: '13 mini(cre)atures for robert schumann' and 'freedom means little. what i desire still has no name'.

While traveling 'through this looking glass', one encounters creatures made of sound making their way through different musical logics in a bizarre and hypnotizing world. Joana slides into, beneath, in between and outside the piano as one who searches for the hidden logics, bowels and a forgotten childhood of this instrument that has become, because of its historical importance, of an almost untouchable 'severity'. After all both the piano and pianist can 'play'.

The performance 'through this looking glass' was captured by film director and cinematographer Daniel Neves into a black and white movie with the same title. Daniel closely follows and transforms every musical gesture into unique pictures of sensitive and depurated aesthetic. Whether it is music that we see or images that we hear, we'll never know. There's no line that divides or designates territories: Joana and Daniel build something hardly definable yet overwhelming and original. 'through this looking glass' will be released as DVD+CD by German label 'blinker, Marke für Rezentes'.

CLIPPING

Performance

through this looking glass (2010/11)

music, concept & performance, joana sá
visual concept, daniel costa neves
mobile design, rita sá
light design, daniel costa neves & tela negra
sound operation, Ângelo Lourenço
light operation, tela negra

première: teatro municipal maria matos, 2011

through this looking glass' is a piece by Joana Sá for prepared piano, toy piano, electronics, props and a mobile, with strong scenic and performance features. Inspired by the surreal and dreamlike world of Lewis Carroll and exploring the relationship between music and poetry, the piece is divided into two different parts: '13 mini(cre)atures for robert schumann' and 'freedom means little. what i desire still has no name'.

While traveling 'through this looking glass', one encounters creatures made of sound making their way through different musical logics in a bizarre and hypnotizing world. Joana slides into, beneath, in between and outside the piano as one who searches for the hidden logics, bowels and a forgotten childhood of this instrument that has become, because of its historical importance, of an almost untouchable 'severity'. After all, the piano can. And the pianist can too.

Press

NMZ Neue Musik Zeitung (DE) “This is the first release from Koln’s blinker - Marke für Rezentes label. The challenge now is to surpass it.”, Martin Hüfner (November 2011)
Link: www.nmz.de/artikel/dvd-tipp-201109

“Neue Klänge, neue Bilder. Es gibt nicht so sehr viele Filme, in denen musikalische und filmische Darstellung derart aufeinander bezogen sind und sich gegenseitig tragen. Die Performance der Pianistin Joana Sá ist ungemein aufregend, spektakulär und gleichwohl ohne Effekthascherei umgesetzt. Filmkunst wie man sie sich häufiger zu sehen wünschte. Eine schillernde Klangreise durch diverse Tasteninstrumente. Grandios.” Martin Hüffner (December 2011)
Link: www.nmz.de/artikel/klaenge-bilder-und-texte-die-uns-bewegen

Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review (USA) "This is late high modernism at its best. " "It is a work of great charm. It is sound poetry. It is one of the most successful and attractive high modern keyboard works that I've heard in years. Joana Sa must be appreciated if you want to know where modernism has gone. It's here.", Grego Applegate Edwards (September 2011)
Link: http://classicalmodernmusic.blogspot.pt/2011/09/joana-sas-striking-new-music- from.html?spref=fb

"5*" “With flawless execution, Joana Sá uses a prepared piano, a small toy piano, electronics and multiple gadgets to build a powerful narrative which evokes connections between poetry and music, between the classical and the ultra contemporary.”” “There’s a sensibility and energy to this work that are deeply personal, something that calls upon the magic associated with Alice’s world. By naming one of the pieces “Freedom means little. What I desire still has no name”, Joana Sá gives away what might be the defining clue to her future work. It will most certainly be bright", Rodrigo Amado (2011).

Jazz.pt (PT) 4 * “The music is beautiful sophisticated, irreverent and inventive. A real pearl born out of that corner of the Portuguese soul that still resists slander, adversity and conformity” Rui Eduardo Paes. MusikTexte (DE) Noises of Cologne, Komponieren mit Geräuschen – Aktuelle CDs aus der Kölner Szene “Dem Hörer erschließt sich ein wie im Spiegelkabinett gebrochener fremder Kosmos des scheinbar vertrauten Klaviers.” Rainer Nonnenmann (2011).
Link: https://texte.musiktexte.de/mt- 131/88/komponieren-mit-gerauschen-aktuelle-cds-aus-der-kolner-szene

ÍPSILON, PÚBLICO (PT) “Tonight, Teatro Maria Matos, in Lisbon, hosts the first major live presentation of one of the most fascinating records released this year. In a modern fable in which the dream and fantasy world of Lewis Carrol and its Alice is balanced, with rare skillfulness, with the universes of contemporary music and improvisation, Joana Sá’s new project sets her up as one of the most vibrant and talented artists in the country” Rodrigo Amado (September 2011).