For a week, last March, four elements of the XY company met the realities of Aljezur and Monchique, collected raw materials and discovered a “fragile paradise”. Now, they are back to present their show Les Voyages, on May 4th (Saturday), at 18 pm, in Portinho da Arrifana (Aljezur) and May 00th (Sunday), at 5:16 pm, in Monchique, departing from Largo dos Chorões .
«Usually, it is inside a large tent that the magic of the contemporary circus takes place. In this case, poetry spills over into the public space. The streets, landscapes, buildings, passers-by, culture and local lifestyles are the stage and inspiration for a site-specific acrobatic and choreographic proposal, tailored to each territory in which the XY troupe infiltrates», explains the production of this show with the seal of Lavrar o Mar, integrated in the 365Algarve program.
Twenty acrobats discovering how their artistic language can reflect and reinterpret public space – a building, a neighborhood, a landscape – «to offer passersby a significant moment, a particular emotion, a “slight distortion of reality ”».
They start from the territory they found in Aljezur and Monchique, made up of mountains and ocean, flames and waves, arbutus and sweet potatoes. «Here they discovered a chorus with many voices and a thousand accents that translate a territory in metamorphosis, rich in diversity, where many layers of memory are transported and stories transpire. They discovered places full of beauty and aspirations, in an “imperfect and magnificent balance”».
This collective of acrobats has presented their stimulating work all over the world, deepening, in this creation, the relationship between artistic practices and performance in public space.
Les Voyages is, therefore, «an unusual circus odyssey, strongly sensory and visual, based on the driving idea of being carriers of memory: “how do we transport ourselves, how are we transported?”. When someone is transported (on lap), their sensations most likely go back to childhood. How long have we not been transported?”
In this way, they want to explore the sensitive memory of bodies and places. To the permanence of buildings, they add to the vulnerability of the human body, playing with the physical limits of spaces.
In the darkness of a theater, they prefer to experience the light of a village here.
The shows are a collective and silent construction, in close proximity to the populations. Ephemeral architectures of balanced bodies, where the encounters between artists and strangers are solidary, fragile and sentimental.
«Since the company itself is an ode to diversity – various nationalities, women, men, younger and more experienced, leaner and more robust – we hope for the big two appointment, a poetic and cultural exchange, an adventure full of hidden treasures that can echo in the memory of all who belong to or visit Alto da Serra and Costa Vicentina».
Les Voyages Exp. 2 – Alès (Rochebelle quarter) from Company XY on Vimeo.
Cie. XY - where do they come from, where do they arrive
Formed in 2005, this acclaimed company based in Lille (France) has been circulating around the world, receiving great critical acclaim.
After the first creation 'Laissez-Porter', it was constituted as a great collective (20 acrobats) for 'Le Grand C', in 2009 and more recently, in 2015, 'Il n'est pas encore minuit', was described by The Guardian as “the rock'n'roll circus where anything is possible”.
With 'Les Voyages', they continue to explore the collective dimension and human solidarity, this time, in the public space, welcoming the accidental, “the great flows of the world” that circulate in the street, without a stage and without a net.
Assuming that we are carriers of memory – bodies (individual) and places (collective) – they truly build human architectures while provoking sentimental encounters with elements of a 'non-public', re-imagining an inhabited and familiar territory and returning it from a new perspective.
Lavrar o Mar invited them to come, for the first time, to southern Portugal, with this project that had its genesis in the ancient city of Naplouse, in Palestine, in 2017.
After 'Maintenant ou Jamais' in 2016 and 'Klaxon' in 2017, “Saison de Cirque” in 2018 and more recently “Traversée” on Easter Sunday, “Les Voyages” is a new proposal of contemporary French circus that permeates the social and artistic fabric of Alto da Serra and Costa Vicentina territories, in this third cycle of Lavrar o Mar programming – the arts in the upper mountains and in the Costa Vicentina.
Diverse, regular and in movement contrary to seasonality, the programming of this project is based on the region's distinctive natural elements and its human, immaterial and ancestral culture, putting contemporary performing arts in dialogue with local knowledge.
It takes as its landscape the mountains, beaches and villages, transformed into fictional scenarios for dance, music, theater, performance, image and multidisciplinary projects, which are presented in unconventional places.
Lavrar o Mar is part of the 365 Algarve program and is funded by the Portuguese Republic – Secretary of State for Culture and Secretary of State for Tourism; Turismo de Portugal and the Algarve Tourism Region, of the European Union, through the Portugal 2020 – CRESC Algarve 2020 program, as well as the General Directorate of Arts and the Municipalities of Aljezur and Monchique.
A CosaNostra project (Madalena Victorino and Giacomo Scalisi). 'Les Voyages' also has the support of the Institut Français, Institut Français au Portugal – French Embassy in Portugal.
LES VOYAGES
Compagnie XY (France)
4th May at 18:00 | Portinho da Arrifana – Aljezur
May 5th at 16:30 pm | Departure from Largo dos Chorões – Monchique
Outdoor show, on the street, comprising a short walk
Duration: 1h / 1h30 approximately
Free admission
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