Herbert Elsky
Herbert Elsky's
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Welcome to
an extraordinary journey
through sound and space

in Herbert Elsky's Theatre las Balubas

Theatre Las Balubas is a sound installation and performance space in the Limousin region of France created by Herbert Elsky in 2004.

In this unique environment, only using everyday objects, animated by oscillating fans and ceiling fans, a large variety of rhythms and auditory ambiances are created.

The sound journeys are intuitive, unpredictable and unrepeatable which creates an environment where awareness is heightened and communication is immediate. The listener is drawn into a soundscape where the relation between the sounds and the objects creating the sounds, is not evident.

One’s perceptions are awakened and each person creates their own story as the layers of sound are juxtaposed and articulate the space. Through these sounds and structures, the spectator/audience is  given access to an experience that is both tangible and intangible. We share the process of creation. 

EVENTS

“From the summit of the highest mountain
to the depths of the deepest ocean
Each thing has it’s own voice”

Meiji Emperor, XIX century

Threshold

Immersive Concert

with Charlène Martin, Olivier Duperron and Herb Elsky
13 July 20h00, 14 July 17h00, 2024

Our performance, themed “Threshold,” combines Herbert Elsky’s “Low Tech” sound installation with Olivier Duperron’s “High Tech” electroacoustic machines and saxophone, while Charlène Martin’s voice bridges these worlds. This immersive concert at Théâtre Las Balubas surrounds the audience with instruments and speakers, creating a unique soundscape. Expect improvisation and sound poetry as we explore new dimensions.

Charlène Martin is an amazing singer, composer, and actress, known for exploring the extremes of vocal expression, from high-pitched notes to whispering and everything in between.

Olivier Duperron is a multi-dimensional musician, an incredible saxophonist, and a sought-after creator of electroacoustic machines, also serving as a professor at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Limoges.





13 July 20h00, 14 July 17h00, 2024 • Reservation at 0631 129074

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PAST EVENTS

" We do not remember days, we remember moments "

 Cesare Pavese

Oksana Soloviova
2023

Oksana Soloviova is a renowned Ukrainian singer and actress, celebrated for her award-winning solo performances in theatre and on stage. Her versatile musical repertoire spans opera, rock, musical comedy, jazz, and traditional folk songs. Known for her powerful voice and deep emotion, she captivates audiences. Performing with her twice in the summer of 2023 was an unforgettable experience.

Now is the time
2019

“Now is the Time” was an exceptional meeting of three unique and singular ways to create music.
My sound theatre, known for its "low tech" approach, receives the "Electronic Machines" of Olivier Duperron, saxophonist, to which the voice of Charlène Martin adds a mysterious emotion and depth.

Sound Journeys

Soundsamples from over the years

Session with
FATOU & AXEL
2005

Three is more than one

ClickRythms
2018

Dividing the space beetwen time

Deuil
2000

Even the sad and broken heart has a rythm

Village song
2015

Song of welcoming to a to a primitive village

So, you're an artist and
you would like to improvise with me?

Let's meet!

Herbert Elsky

“Sounds,
found at an auspicious moment create the appearance of a story
or reveal a pre-conscious memory appearing from deep time.”

I am an american artist, born in Los Angeles, where I studied Art at UCLA. Since 1995 I live in the gentle hills of the Limousin region in France.

Making art has always felt to me like a sacred activity, a kind of alchemical experience that is inconceivable and undefinable. It reveals new dimensions of who we are as human beings and transcends our perception of conventional awareness.

In 2004, inspired by the large volume of the barn on our farm in the countryside and haunted by the question: "Can sculptures become a way to create a sound installation? " the idea of the Theatre Las Balubas was born. Old barrels, a cement mixer, garden sprinklers, pots and pans became my first "instruments".

Since then the theater has evolved through many phases of inventing new "instruments" and reconfiguring the space to create “sound journeys”. In recent years I have been joined by a wide variety of performing artists, musicians, singers, dancers, Buto dancers, poets, and a marionettist . 

The compositions are intuitive, unpredictable, and unrepeatable, which creates an environment where awareness is heightened and communication is immediate, therefore, very alive! We share the process of creation.

One cannot buy, own, or hold onto the experience. The experience is the living moment itself!

INFLUENCES 

One of the most important influences in my life was the Tibetan Buddhist meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, with whom I studied for 17 years. His teachings about “Dharma Art”, and the "Art in everyday life” changed my perception completely. Creativity became integrated into every activity in my life instead of being a special separate thing to sell or exhibit.


The other important influence for the theatre itself was the sculptor Jean Tinguely. “Las Balubas” refers to a series of his works. He was  one of my early hero’s and it is his example of daring humor, challenging and aesthetically engaging work, that inspired the creation of the theatre.


Find us in the heart of the Limousin region of France

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