Congregation by Shadwell

Every year at the end of May, in a village by the seaside, a statue, a Saint, slowly journeys into the waves, carried by a people, a procession, a unifying ritual...

The primary inspiration behind Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch's Congregation is the Romani pilgrimage taking place at the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. The traditionally nomadic people gather in a small village in the south of France to worship their Saint and patroness, the Black Sara, as well as to reunite and nurture their identity and culture.

The piece isn't devotional or religious but it is inspired by how rituals involving behaviours that might be considered unusual or even extreme in everyday life can create a sense of community for separated individuals (be it by lifestyle, worldwide health crisis or technological isolation), a collective catharsis.

It utilises binaural technology, field recordings, body percussions and voices to explore the physical and emotional sensations generated by communal ecstatic and charismatic religious practices, contrasting overwhelming chaos with the release of the sublime.


We invite you to follow this short opening practice to come into relationship with your body so you can immerse yourself in a musical interpretation of ritual.

1-Turn off the lights, and/or close the curtains. Turn off anything that is making artificial noise near you. Create silence, create space to listen.

2-Start to listen for what sounds are in the space around you. The room you’re in, the room next door, the street outside. Hear the soundscape of your outer world.

3-Stand, feet firm on the ground. Take seven deep breaths. Notice the sound of your breath.

4-Start to move your body, in any way that you can, for 90 seconds. You might shake, do star jumps, run on the spot, swing your limbs back and forth.

5-Stand in stillness. Listen for what happens in the body. Hear the soundscape of your inner world. 6-Now stay in the state of listening. Sit or lie down.

7-Prepare the music, your headphones, and press play.

Shadwell is a music theatre company based in East London.

We share an audacious vision. A company that's creative, intergenerational, immersive, and expansive. One that subverts and shifts expectations rather than simply challenges them. That vision is Shadwell.

shadwell.org.uk