Théâtre National de Bretagne
Direction Arthur Nauzyciel
Festival TNB
En partenariat avec le CCN de Rennes et de Bretagne
The act of washing (lavagem in Brazilian Portuguese) is the metaphorical centre of this poetic and political performance by choreographer Alice Ripoll.
Tipped onto stage by Brazilian dancers carrying buckets of soapy water, white foam gradually spreads over a blue tarp. As the floor transforms into an ice rink, the dancers, their bodies dripping wet, flow over its surface, curling into and around each other as they dodge the collisions and falls. Coming from the favelas, they are the incarnation of contemporary Brazil. The Brazil of shadow workers, anonymous and forgotten, who clean the offices. The Brazil of President Jair Bolsonaro, agent of money laundering and brainwashing. The Brazil of a people who ritually purify themselves before the Rio Carnival. Or the Brazil in search of redemption that would like to wash away its troubled past.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Alice Ripoll studied psychoanalysis before devoting herself to dance. Her work combines contemporary and Brazilian urban dance forms, and she directs two dance collectives : Rec and Suave. Part of a new generation of young Brazilian choreographers, she has produced several pieces — including Cria, which was presented at TNB last season