SACRE

(THE RITE OF SPRING)

Sasha Waltz, who had previously done research on rituals and group dynamics with works such as Medea (2007) and Continu (2010), immerses herself in Sacre with this reflection: “For a long time, I have been interested in archaic myths that conjure the power and great order of nature. In today’s highly technologised world, the forces of nature have been reduced to appearing almost exclusively in the form of catastrophe. Rituals, on the other hand, show the cyclical structure of nature and address humanity’s relationship to its origins. Belief and connection to a higher order are strengthened; the individual sacrifices himself for the good of the community. The choreography of Stravinsky’s Sacre gives me the opportunity to devote an entire piece to this material.”

The proposal for Sacre is fierce, carnal, vigorous, chaotic and utterly magnetic: an explosion of twenty-eight dancers of all ages generates enormous turbulence on stage. They celebrate

—Conversations with Igor Stravinsky, by Robert Craft

the arrival of spring, when a young girl is chosen as a sacrificial victim and must dance to the death. Alarmism, anxiety, fear... a drama that keeps the audience attentive to the nakedness of the victim, who dances in agony until her strength gives out. A macabre dance that cannot heal the imperturbable vital cracks in the community’s decision.

Sacre is presented at the Gran Teatre del Liceu as a session in three parts. After the anguish and anxiety recreated in Sacre, we encounter the serenity of Claude Debussy’s L’après-midi d’un faune and the calm, loving peace of Scène d’amour from Hector Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette. Three well contrasted creations that reveal multiple facets of human nature, through humanity’s rebelling lights and shadows.

La veu

Salpen els mots cap a crepuscles àrtics, i el temps és una boira que els retarda. Digueu-me on soc, planures atziagues d’onades frèvoles i vidres breus, on és el canvi de la veu llaurada que en terra es lignifica sense arrels? Amunt, amunt cap al no-res m’inflamo perquè en la flor extingida sigui encens.

FROM 12 TO 14 JUL 2024—