The Dark Lady is an artistic kaleidoscope that brings feminist voices from past and present into a vibrant musical-poetic dialogue. At its heart are the poems of the English author Emilia Lanier, née Bassano (1569–1645) — one of the first women to be published in England and long considered one of the possible inspirations for Shakespeare’s enigmatic “Dark Lady.” Her texts, radical for their time, intertwine with English and German poetry, music, and socio-political reflection to form a rich, multilayered tapestry.
For The Dark Lady, Arc of Iris collaborates with a (queer-)feminist poet, a composer, and musical guest artists, expanding the ensemble into a broken consort.
Musically, Arc of Iris weaves together works by John Dowland — marking the 400th anniversary of his death — and by Robert Johnson, a cousin of Emilia Bassano, with compositions by Isabella Leonarda and Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. Thematically resonant vocal works by Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini further enrich the program with additional female perspectives. In addition, the project includes a newly commissioned work that sets a contemporary feminist poem to music, creating a sonic bridge between centuries.
The Dark Lady proposes a female gaze as both an aesthetic vision and a socio-political countermodel to the realities of our present world. A beautiful utopia — or perhaps simply a glimpse of the future.
