Mike Hadreas—also known as Perfume Genius—and choreographer Kate Wallich—with whom Hadreas previously collaborated on The Sun Still Burns Here in 2019, inspiring his 2022 LP Ugly Season—have announced a new music and dance work. The Lesson was commissioned by Seattle Theatre Group and inspired by Elfriede Jelinek’s The Piano Teacher, which was previously adapted by Michael Haneke into an excellent film of the same name in 2001. The first music from the piece, “Natural High,” is out now.
“I’ve always thought of my albums as soundtracks to films that do not exist,” Hadreas shared. “There is a freedom to inhabiting something imagined and purely sonic. I can be every character or not exist at all or body swap at will. Scenes can shift immediately just because I feel like it. That doesn’t change when creating a performance with Kate, all the mystery and thrill of going somewhere lawless and dreamlike stays intact—but I’m not alone in building the world and it literally fleshes out in real time. Body swapping feels very different when you are actually in a room holding the other person.”
Hadreas and Wallich will premiere The Lesson at REDCAT in Los Angeles with a three-night run beginning February 18, followed by more dates on February 25 – 27. From there, the show will travel to New York City, Paris, London, and beyond.
Check out “Natural High” below, and purchase tickets for The Lesson here.
