Remarquable FTA shows:
Encantado and Reminiscencia

Exceptional choreography and multidisciplinary art at the Festival TransAmériques

By Jacqueline van de Geer

June 29, 2023

Encantado

The legendary Lia Rodrigues choreographed a captivating manifesto delivered by 11 performers turned into encantados – or magical spirits –in a one-hour adventure at Usine C.

Known for her vital contributions to the development of contemporary dance in Brazil, Lia Rodrigues has been working for decades on artistic, pedagogical, and social projects in the heart of Rio de Janeiro’s Maré favela that is upending hierarchies and challenging our assumptions about dance.

Rodrigues’ works, performed in some of the world’s most prominent theatres and festivals, are always also performed in the working-class neighbourhood where they first take shape. In 2007, FTA welcomed Rodrigues for the first time with Incarnat, followed by Pororoca (FTA, 2011) and now, in 2023, we have the pleasure of seeing Encantado.

Encantado – Image: Sammi Landweer

In Brazil, the word encantado has several meanings. It can be a synonym for astonishment and wonder or qualify the effects of a magic spell. It also has its own meaning in Afro-American culture. Here, it is used to designate animated entities, the encantados. This performance is a huge party to close this colourful edition of the wonderful FTA festival!

The performance is driven by music from the Indigenous Mbyá Guarani people: repetitive rhythms sung on Brazil’s streets as a song of resistance by the Indigenous population.

I witnessed an outpouring of beauty and emotion. It all starts quietly. On the stage, we see a colourful mosaic of fabric as if watching a super big quilt. One by one, the performers enter and get under the fabric, moving like water, transforming the fabric into sculptures. In an enchanting game of disguise, we are drawn into an ongoing metamorphosis. The stage transforms into a world where mythical beings are revealed, playful, wild, and seductive. The patchwork quilt made from blankets changes into an organic joyful chaos.

The performance is driven by music from the Indigenous Mbyá Guarani people: repetitive rhythms sung on Brazil’s streets as a song of resistance by the Indigenous population.

A powerful performance, filled with enchantment and wonder, a spell for healing the world!

Encantado ran June 6, 7, and 8 at the Festival TransAmériques.

Reminiscencia

Malicho Vaca Valenzuela is a multidisciplinary artist of the emerging Chilean generation. He studied playwriting and theatre directing at the Universidad de Chile (Santiago) in 2016.

Reminiscencia – Image: Christian Ellwanger

Memory, body, land, and dissidence are at the heart of Malicho Vaca Valenzuela’s work. In 2020, true to his belief in the unifying power of technology and wishing to elude the lockdowns imposed by pre-pandemic repression, he created Reminiscencia, which was deemed the best work of online theatre by the Chilean Arc Critics Circle in 2021. The artist offered the piece free of charge to hundreds of viewers.

Reminiscencia then premiered as a live performance at Festival Internacional de Buenos Aires on March 4, 2022, and is now programmed in Montreal at the Festival TransAmériques!

I had the immense pleasure of being present at the North American premiere. A big screen and a small desk with, behind the laptop, a soft-spoken young performer. During 50 minutes, the personal and collective memory are intertwined as in a dream. Broadcast live online and presented on stage, the work takes us together beyond screens with a touching theatrical narrative.

Reminiscencia – Image: Christian Ellwanger

Vaca Valenzuela takes us on a journey to the past. The route of our travel consists of following his cursor on the Internet and listening to his stories. We are introduced to the alley where his childhood home has been nestled for the past four generations and we visit many unusual places in the city. We also travel with him to bygone times, we witness traces on the Internet of suppressed revolutions. On top of that, he introduces us to mysterious love stories.

The highlight of the performance is the poignant presence of Vaca Valenzuela’s grandparents, who are using music to trump Alzheimer’s disease and who first nicknamed him Malicho.

‘… wishing to elude the lockdowns imposed by pre-pandemic repression, he [Vaca Valenzuela] created Reminiscencia, which was deemed the best work of online theatre by the Chilean Arc Critics Circle in 2021.’

I deeply loved this compelling performance, in which we are introduced to the simple poetry of everyday life.

Reminiscencia ran June 4, 5, and 6 at the Festival TransAmériques.

Feature image: Encantado, by Sammi Landweer

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