An ensemble of some of the most sought-after instrumentalists in the UK, Counterpoise was founded with the aim of crossing genres, exploring the relationship between music, text and visuals, and seeking to develop aspects of narrative and other extra-musical influences.

We are delighted to be working with the singer Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong and the pianist Yshani Perinpanayagam in our latest project:

A Night with Joséphine

Joséphine Baker Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong
Musical director Yshani Perinpanayagam
Director Emily Ling Williams
Videographer Andrea Marcovecchio

A Night with Joséphine tells the story, with text, visuals and movement, of the American–French dancer, singer and actress Joséphine Baker, notorious for her banana dance, but also a civil rights activist, champion of women’s rights, intrepid French Resistance fighter and ‘the most sensational woman anyone ever saw’ (Hemingway).

The colourful scene of 1920s Paris is set, in the first half, with three classic silent shorts from the period, their sound-tracks played live:

Ghosts Before Breakfast (Hans Richter, 1928), score by Jean Hasse. The film, which features Hindemith and Milhaud, among others, is a cult classic with surreal sequences of flying bowler hats, teacups magically filling by themselves and animations that anticipate those of Monty Python’s Flying Circus by half a century.

The Fall of the House of Usher (Watson & Webber, 1928), score by Jean Hasse. The film, based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe, features Melville Webber, also the screenwriter.

Entr’acte (René Clair, 1924), score by Luke Styles. The celebrated and influential film features Picabia, Satie, Duchamp, Man Ray, Auric and Clair himself.

All three films utilise avant-garde experimental techniques, including superimpositions, visualising supernatural phenomena for dramatic or comic effect. Subscribing to the Dada aesthetic, they also prefigure Expressionistic cinema of the following decade.

The premiere was given at the Wimbledon International Festval on 17 November 2024. There will be further performances at the Newbury Spring Festival (15 May 2025), Deal Festival (6 July 2025) and Buxton Festival (July 2025).