“Pros-(HER)-Pere” is a dance-theater and live music collaborative performance developed and performed by the Sara Galas Band, which is myself, interdisciplinary artist Sara Galassini, and award winning composer musician Yukio Tsuji.

With this project we question contemporary western society behaviors and what it means to be a woman today by exploring the symbolism and themes of the myth of Persephone and Demeter in relationship to initiation practices, sacred geometry, the rise of patriarchy, the emergence of the feminine and the masculine in one being, as well as three archetypal essences of the feminine (the young maiden, the woman and the elder sage), and the cyclical unfolding of life energy from birth, to death and rebirth.

To do this, we created a physical, visual, and sonic vocabulary juxtaposing the forms of Noh and Kyogen Theater with contemporary dance, ritual, ethnic instruments, synthesizers, and guitar sounds, as well as poetry, song, and chant created with deconstructed text, made-up language, Italian, and English.

The result of this process is an abstract and nonlinear stage narration that interprets some of the most telling moments of the mythological story creating a tapestry of lyrical imagery, live music, and song. I also use a few props on stage, transforming their identity in a variety of ways to help me portray the story. I choose to not use verbal storytelling in order to be able to reach the audience at a deeper level, so that one’s own story can emerge in the eyes and heart of the viewer through the unfolding of the actions on stage.