"Anticipate each goodbye, as if it wereAlready behind you like a winter that’s passed.Because underneath these winters is such an interminableWinter, that only by hibernating can your heart survive."(Rainer Maria Rilke, The Sonnets to Orpheus)
One of the Facebook friends posted on his wall today: “You have too many virtual friends to have access to the real event”...
“Flamencos en route” and I have been Facebook friends for a while now and last Wednesday the chance of a real meeting presented itself: I was to see Canto Amor, their recent performance based on Rainer Maria Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus. The virtual relationship meant just that: I had no idea of who and what they were. It was a blind-date-turned-love-at-first-sight kind of evening.
Canto Amor was played in the Aarau Theater, a former horse riding hall in Aarau (Switzerland). It was the last event of the season; chilly weather prompted the handout of blankets for the spectators.
The stage is dressed in a minimalistic fashion. Few metallic structures in the back of the stage serve as a giant percussion instrument. The performance starts with a mysterious beat, and I can’t say anymore whether chills are coming through the walls or from the inside provoked by the strange vibrations in the air.
Eurydice is performed by the Algerian dancer Karima Nayt. Eva Nievergelt’s classical vocals interlaced beautifully with deep Arabic chanting. Death, brilliantly danced by Eloy Aguilar, appears dominant as he spins furiously into the middle of the festivities, a seductive tempter rather than a menacing figure. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice has been interpreted in many different ways. Flamencos en route directed by Brigitta Luisa Merki created poetic images through harmonious and unexpected mix of flamenco dance, exotic instruments, opera, and Rilke’s poems telling us a story of love, life, death and transformation.
Here you can find the performance dates of Flamencos en route.
Nice weekend to all.
Love,
AB
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