Scott Walker scores a dance piece for the Royal Opera House

Following on his last album, ‘The Drift’, experimental musician Scott Walker has composed an original score and will soundtrack it for a dance project based on a dramatic monologue Jean Cocteau wrote for Edith Piaf. In collaboration with Royal Opera House associate artist and choreographer Aletta Collins, Duet For One will be staged from 17th to 25th June, paired with Poulenc’s opera La Voix Humaine, and performed in English.

Speaking about the project, Walker said, “I must admit to not really being an admirer of Cocteau. I am, however, an admirer of Aletta Collins and her work. So when Aletta asked me to collaborate with the intention of deconstructing the original script for dance, I was grateful for the challenge to help take what is essentially, in my humble opinion, an antiquated piece of misogyny (in this case, woman as willing victim) and try to turn it on its head and use its traces to create something new.”

Duet for One will run from 17 to 25 June at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre.