Flights of aesthetic fancy
A combination of acrobatics, theatre, dance and music, “La Verita” by Compagnia Finzi Pasca from Switzerland is a dramatic and surrealistic performance that is guaranteed to wow audiences at Bangkok’s 21st International Festival of Dance and Music.
Being staged on September 21 and 22 at the Thailand Cultural Centre, “La Verita” is an electrifying extravaganza of lighting, amazing costumes and breath-taking acrobatics performed by a troupe of multi- talented singers, dancers and, of course, acrobats.
Founded by Antonio Vergamini, Daniele Finzi Pasca, Hugo Gargiulo, Julie Hamelin Finzi and Maria Bonzanigo, the troupe continues the work of the Teatro Sunil and Inlevitas. The distinctive approach of the Compagnia Finzi Pasca took shape from the concepts of the “Theatre of the Caress” and the “Invisible Gesture”. Developed over the course of 35 years, these concepts have been consolidated into a very personal style of creativity and production, as well as a philosophy of training for the actor, acrobat, musician, dancer and technician – turning them into a unique way of inhabiting the space.
Based in Lugano, Switzerland, the company has created three Olympic Ceremonies (Turin 2006 and Sochi 2014, both Olympic and Paralympic Games), two shows for the Cirque du Soleil: Luzia in 2016 and Corteo in 2005, five operas of which “Aida” and Verdi’s “Requiem” are officially part of the Mariinsky Theatre at St Petersburg yearly programme, as well as the operas “Carmen” and “Pagliacci” at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and “Love from Afar” for the English National Opera, London. It has also created “Avudo”, a multimedia show that combines video mapping, lights and water fountains for the city of Montreal and is in the process of creating the next “Fete des Vignerons” (“Winegrowers Festival”), an event that takes place every 25 years in Vevey, Switzerland.
La Verita draws on surrealism and the director Daniele Finzi Pasca uses the analogy of horses to describe the cast and their work, “I have been working for a while with these very special performers. They are all horses. There is a strange magnetism to them, a delicate strength that comes from their lightness. You keep asking whether they are actors, acrobats, clowns or musicians... The answer is, they are horses.”
He turns to food however to expand on what La Verita means, “Sometimes, we feel like finding the familiar flavours, smells and spices. For this production, the team is preparing Dalí’s surrealist tapas,” alluding to Salvador Dali’s backdrop for a play in 1940s that inspired this performance.
“The language of acrobatics, of physical theatre may easily conquer a territory where it is neither night nor day, where light doesn’t touch reality but designs it, invents it or reinvents it. The language of the acrobats titillates our unconscious, making us see inner landscapes that appear truer than reality. Dali’s landscapes are set during night or day? The answer: neither, Dali’s images belong to another dimension, the dimension of dreams, he adds”
Tickets costing from Bt1,200 to Bt3,000 are on sales at Thai Ticket Major counters and online. Call (02) 262 3191. For more information, visit www.bangkokfestivals.com.
Supporting the Festival are Bangkok Bank (PCL), Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park, BMW Thailand, B.Grimm Group, Indorama Ventures, Major Cineplex Group, Nation Group, PTT (PCL), PTT Global Chemical PCL, Singha Corporation, Thai Union Group, Thai Airways International, Tourism Authority of Thailand and Ministry of Culture
