Encantado

A Garden at the World’s Beginning

Encantado. In Brazil, the word means enchantment, wonder, a spell for healing the world. In the space of an hour, the legendary Lia Rodrigues choreographs a collective manifesto outlining nothing less than a new cosmology. The captivating scenes on stage are accompanied by the nurturing sounds of the Mbyá Guaraní people, in an outpouring of beauty and emotion.

A window opens on an immense patchwork quilt made from blankets. Before this visually stunning tableau, 11 performers transformed into spirits of healing unfurl the blankets one by one into vivid shapes. In this game of disguise and metamorphosis, mythical beings are revealed, both playful and seductive. An imaginary world slowly takes shape, into which we are drawn by the organic chaos of these creatures, who evade and transcend conventions. Enchanting everything in their path to dispel the fear of being different, or to proudly celebrate it, they make a revolutionary proposal: to achieve collective healing through partnership and desire.

Produced by Lia Rodrigues Companhia de danças
Created by Lia Rodrigues
Created with and performed by David Abreu + Raquel Alexandre + Andrey da Silva + Valentina Fittipaldi + Larissa Lima + Leonardo Nunes + Tiago Oliveira + Ricardo Xavier
Also performed by Alice Alves + Daline Ribeiro + Felipe Vian
Also created with Joana Castro + Matheus Macena + Carolina Repetto
Assistant Choreographer Amalia Lima
Dramaturgy Silvia Soter
Artistic Collaborator and Images Sammi Landweer
Lighting Design Nicolas Boudier
Music Songs from the Mbyá Guaraní People (village of Kalipety, indigenous territory of Tenondé Porã), sung and played during a demonstration in Brasilia in August 2021 for the recognition of their endangered ancestral
Sound Alexandre Seabra
Stage Managers Magali Foubert + Baptistine Méral

Production and Touring Colette de Turville assisted by Astrid Toledo
Administration Jacques Segueilla
Production Brésil Gabi Gonçalves – Corpo Rastreado
Secretary Gloria Laureano
Teachers Sylvia Barretto + Valentina Fittipaldi + Amalia Lima

Co-produced by Chaillot – Théâtre National de la Danse (Paris) + Le CENTQUATRE (Paris) + Festival d’Automne à Paris + Scène Nationale Carré-Colonnes, Bordeaux Métropole + Le TAP – Théâtre Auditorium de Poitiers + Scène Nationale du Sud-Aquitain + La Coursive, Scène Nationale La Rochelle + L’Empreinte, Scène Nationale Brive-Tulle + Théâtre d’Angoulême Scène Nationale + Le Moulin du Roc, Scène Nationale à Niort + La Scène Nationale d’Aubusson + Office Artistique de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine – Bordeaux + Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Bruxelles Brussels) + Theaterfestival (Bâle Basel) + HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin) + Festival Oriente Occidente (Roveretto) + Theater Freiburg + Julidans (Amsterdam) + Teatro Municipal do Porto + Festival DDD – dias de dança (Porto) + Association Lia Rodrigues – France

With the support of Redes da Maré e Centro de Artes da Maré (Rio de Janeiro) + FONDOC (Occitanie) + Fonds international de secours pour les organisations de la culture et de l’éducation 2021 du ministère fédéral allemand des Affaires étrangères + Goethe-Institut

Special thanks to Thérèse Barbanel + Antoine Manologlou + Maguy Marin + Eliana Souza Silva + Centro de Artes da Maré

Lia Rodrigues is an associate artist at Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (Paris) + CENTQUATRE (Paris)

The show is dedicated to Olivier.

Premiered at Théâtre National de Chaillot, Festival d’automne à Paris, on December 1, 2021

Presented by Hotel ZERO1 in association with Usine C

Written by Myriam Stéphanie Perraton-Lambert
Translated by David Dalgleish