Swiss folk-singer Sina, and jazz-singer Erika Stucky – two sisters in spirit, and two powerful women from Switzerland’s Valais canton – have each been very successful in their independent projects. Together, they presented a unique, innovative program entitled Toluheischis Vorläbu / The Tobelhans Past.
Sina and Stucky have known each other for a long time; however, it was only in 2000 that they worked together for the first time at Bochum’s Schauspielhaus as Mrs God (Stucky) and Mrs Death (Sina) in Sybille Berg’s trash-musical Helge’s Life. They met again – remotely, via a videolink – at the opening-event of Switzerland’s Expo.02, as well as in a project involving eleven mandolin players at the same expo. Admitting that they had always wanted to do a project together, the final impetus was provided by Switzerland’s Cully Jazz Festival, which, together with tuba-player Jon Sass, gave Stucky & Sina a platform for the development of an innovative multimedia event.
The core of this show is created by their own super-8 and video movies, which are set to music, live on stage. Stucky & Sina take on a succession of roles: …on the search for their forlorn mother in a chapel, …midwives, helping a farmer give birth to a chicken, …as kidnap victims of Tschäggätä, the mythical sorcerer of the Valais Alps, …as Bond-girls in an Istanbul hotel. And there are also songs: funny, abstract, surreal and exciting – with alpine sagas providing the basic material. This work is both innovative and captivating, and may well surprise the audience. You may laugh, although sometimes the laugh sticks in the throat… Their concerts are a mixture of pop-show, cabaret, jazz and trash-event.
