Sonoma

If there’s a heaven, it is here and now (Luis Buñuel)
Nine dancers enter to the sounds of drums and vibrant folk songs and launch into a lively dance. They swarm on the stage, gliding in their traditional striped costumes, like so many dervishes turning in their long and wide skirts. In the middle of the stage, a cross tied with rope gives the performance a mystical and enigmatic air. At the beginning is the word, the shout, the primitive breath of life, the body and the flesh. From those moving bodies arise images. Dreamlike impressions and landscapes where past, future, and present blur. The horde of women moves, struggles, comes together, shouts, and tries to free itself. Marcos Morau’s unique choreographic language leads us to the very borders of reality with impressive telluric strength. Between traditional chants and hypnotic rhythms, between folklore and modernity, the Spanish creator pays tribute to Luis Buñuel’s world and to the surrealist revolution with a fragmented and stratified dance. Giving imagination full reign to allow us to live, feel, and exorcise the moment. A liberation !

The collective La Veronal, now based in Barcelona, was founded in 2005 in Valencia, with the goal of researching new expressive formats and new cultural references to create a powerful narrative language and build global artistic spaces. Their creations include Russia (2011), Islandia (2012), Siena (2013), Voronia (2015), and Pasionaria (2018).

Luis Buñuel was born in 1900 in Calanda, a small Aragon village in Spain. After studying in Madrid, he came to Paris in 1925, where he met the surrealists. With Salvador Dalí, he shot Un Chien andalou in 1929, a film that caused a scandal. Working in every cinematic genre, he left with Belle de jour (1967) or The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) an elusive, subversive, and highly political body of work. He passed away in 1983 in Mexico City, where he’d fled Francoist censorship.

With Alba Barral, Àngela Boix, Julia Cambra, Laia Duran, Ariadna Montfort, Núria Navarra, Lorena Nogal, Marina Rodríguez, Sau-Ching Wong

Artistic direction Marcos Morau
Choreography Marcos Morau in collaboration with the performers
Text El Conde de Torrefiel, La Tristura and Carmina S. Belda
Dramaturgical support Roberto Fratini
Rehearsal Estela Merlos, Alba Barral
Vocal work Mònica Almirall, Maria Pardo
Stage design Bernat Jansà, David Pascual
Lights Bernat Jansà
Special effets David Pascual
Sound Juan Cristóbal Saavedra
Costumes Silvia Delagneau

Sewing Ma Carmen Soriano
Hats Nina Pawlowski
Masks Juan Serrano
Construction of the giant Martí Doy
Accessories Mirko Zeni
Production contacts Juan Manuel Gil Galindo, Cristina Goñi Adot

Production La Veronal
Co-production Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Tanz im August / HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Grec 2020 Festival de Barcelone – Institut de Cultura Ajuntament de Barcelona, Oriente Occidente Dance Festival (Rovereto, Italie), Théâtre de Fribourg, Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Conde-Duque (Madrid), Mercat de les Flors (Barcelona), Temporada Alta (Salt, Spain), Hessisches Staatsballett (Darmstadt, Germany) as part of Tanzplattform Rhein-Main (Frankfurt), Sadler’s Wells (London), Festival d’Avignon
With the support of Graner – Fàbriques de Creació (Barcelona), Teatre L’Artesà (El Prat de Llobregat), Inaem Spanish Ministry if Culture and Sport and ICEC Catalan Culture Department and for the 75th edition of the Festival d'Avignon : Cultural Office of the Spanish Embassy and Institut Cervantes de Toulouse

This show is recipient of the cross-border cooperation project Pyrenart, as part of the Program Interreg V-A Spain-France-Andorra POCTEFA 2014-2020 – European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)