{"id":17816,"date":"2019-01-22T14:50:46","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T14:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.cullberg.com\/archived_performance\/meningslosa-hagar\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T14:51:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T14:51:22","slug":"meningslosa-hagar","status":"publish","type":"archived_performance","link":"https:\/\/cms.cullberg.com\/en\/archived_performance\/meningslosa-hagar\/","title":{"rendered":"Meningsl\u00f6sa hagar (Pointless Pastures)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In in the autumn
\nIn the autumn when you say goodbye
\nIn the autumn when all the gates stand open toward
\nmeaningless pastures …<\/span><\/p>\n

– from Absentia Animi by Gunnar Ekel\u00f6f<\/p>\n

It is this first stanza of Gunnar Ekel\u00f6f’s poem Absentia Animi<\/i> that inspired\u00a0Mats Ek to create Meningsl\u00f6sa<\/i> Hagar <\/i>(Pointless Pastures). The piece was\u00a0created in 1992 for John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet and subsequently incorporated into the Cullberg Ballet’s repertoire. Ek’s movement language is, as always, deeply idiosyncratic. His choreography evolved over time from narrative dramatic works to evocative poetic dances.<\/p>\n

Meningsl\u00f6sa<\/i> Hagar <\/i>depicts a series of meetings between people. The piece unfolds in a dreamlike logic instead of direct narratives from real life.<\/p>\n

Containing both humor and tragedy anything can happen (and is happening) in these pastures. As is often the case in Ek\u2019s work, the music acts as an adventure in its own right.<\/p>\n

Henryk G\u00f3recki’s nordic sounds are mixed with wayward interpretations of Swedish folk songs played on violin and harmonica. The set designer Peder Freiij created a enchanted landscape in the form of a blue shimmering courtyard. The imaginatively conceived costumes in turn gave each dancer a completely different character.Below is an excerpt from an interview with Margareta S\u00f6rensen for the Cullberg Ballet’s program in the spring of 1993:<\/p>\n

\u201cMeaningless? Doesn\u2019t that sound despondent?\u201d Mats Ek, who has just run his daily training, looks surprised at such question.<\/p>\n

– It could also mean without precondition, free from demands. A place where anything can happen. Or nothing. The ballet is not at all about the poem, which takes it much further. It’s just about these two words “meaningless pastures” that were suggestive and gave me an image to work with. When I then heard Henryk G\u00f3recki’s music, a fusion or link emerged for me. There appeared a sequence of scenes offering concrete situations. For example, between man and woman, between a man and a man, between different people, or between a man and his given space. Everything takes place in a landscape only hinted at – a cloud, a fence, a long haired carpet signaling a pasture.<\/p>\n

A Swedish landscape?<\/p>\n

– <\/span>In any event a Nordic one. The music is surprisingly Nordic to my ears. G\u00f3recki is from the same generation as Arvo P\u00e4rt, both deeply religious. But where P\u00e4rt is more Gregorian, G\u00f3recki is more barren. Peder Freiij’s costumes give each dancer their own character – we find some of a dream\u2019s clear figures but at the same time they are elusive.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Press clippings:<\/p>\n

“Ek is a master of original dramatic images, and in Meningsl\u00f6sa Hagar,<\/i> they are among the most beautiful and spectacular he has ever succeeded with.”<\/p>\n

– Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung<\/p>\n

“… the piece is filled with small glittering scenes. The end result is surprising and overwhelming. “<\/p>\n

– Dagens Nyheter<\/p>\n

“When have you ever seen the full richness of life expressed in dance like it is in Mats Ek’s Meningsl\u00f6sa Hagar<\/i>?<\/p>\n

– Die Zeit<\/p>\n

Music:
\nHenryk M G\u00f3recki: Already it is dusk<\/p>\n

Three pieces in Olden style<\/p>\n

Traditional Swedish folk music: Barkbr\u00f6dsl\u00e5ten, Jag g\u00e5r i tusan tankarHon Var Svart \/ She Was Black<\/i> (1995) was created as a counterpart to Meningsl\u00f6sa Hagar<\/i>. While Meningsl\u00f6sa Hagar<\/i> had a idyllic mood Hon Var <\/i>Svart \/ She Was Black <\/i>was <\/i>instead an expression the agitation of urban society and its focus on competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In in the autumn In the autumn when you say goodbye In the autumn when all the gates stand open toward meaningless pastures … – from Absentia Animi by Gunnar Ekel\u00f6f It is this first stanza of Gunnar Ekel\u00f6f’s poem Absentia Animi that inspired\u00a0Mats Ek to create Meningsl\u00f6sa Hagar (Pointless Pastures). The piece was\u00a0created in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-17816","archived_performance","type-archived_performance","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.cullberg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archived_performance\/17816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.cullberg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archived_performance"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.cullberg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/archived_performance"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.cullberg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}