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dada.1921

¬ The italian 'bruitistes', led by Marinetti, were giving a performance of works written for their new instruments. These works were pale, insipid and melodious in spite of Russolo's noise-music, and the dadaists who attended did not fail to express their feelings – and very loudly. Marinetti asked indulgence for Russolo, who had been wounded in the war and had undergone a serious operation on his skull. This moved the dadaists to demonstrate violently how little impressed they were by a reference to the war.
(Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, quoted in: Douglas Kahn, "Noise Water Meat", 1999 MIT press, p.66.)

¬ The concert that was disrupted was part of a series presented by Jacques Hébertot at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées which was to include the 'Salon Dada', as well as the premiere of Cocteau's 'Les mariés de la Tour Eiffel'. Yet the dadaists objected strongly to the implication that their works were in any way equivalent to those of Cocteau or Marinetti, and they decided that they had to distance themselves publicly from the other presenters.

¬ At the concert, Tzara stood up and began to insult both the futurists and their supporters; however, Marinetti, a professional troublemaker himself was prepared. Hébertot was sent to ask Tzara to be quiet and then to leave. Failing on both counts, he brought a policeman who ejected the leader of the dadaists. Meanwhile, Hébertot announced that he would cancel the 'Salon Dada' as a means of retribution against the "infantile" dadaists.

(Christopher Schiff, in: "Wireless Imagination", 1992, MIT press, p.152)

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