Les Brigittines

Nothing makes a mockery of the mould of conventional masculinity better than a quartet of folk-dancing musicians from the Alps. With yodelling, thigh-slapping, heel-stomping, quadrilles, village songs and customs. This is Tyrol, but it’s everywhere.

Progressively, everything is dismantled and stripped bare, humour devastates stereotypes, as the four protagonists expose the delirium that lies behind ritual codes and practices. A different form of pleasure overwhelms our senses: rhythm, thirst and insistence infuse the scenes and the music. Simon Mayer’s world is peppered with a natural incongruity that blows you away.