¿No
Me Besabas? is and
exploration
of the vast and varied subject of violence. Set to musical fragments
from Argentinean singer-songwriter Rosamel Araya, renowned Cuban
composer/musician Compay Segundo and the England-based Iraqi group
Fun-da-men-tal, the piece interweaves acrobatics, boxing, acting
and playwriting to display arresting physicality and a delightfully
absurd sense of humor. A striking series of vivid tableaux and a
driving musical score of boleros, Cuban son, and techno-house rhythms
set the tone for this piece. ¿No me besabas? dramatically
manipulates concepts of space, time and movement, to portray hypothetical
aspects of what is characterized as a "violent," state of mind such
as desire, exhaustion, and love. The company creates an underworld
of psychotic, yet hauntingly endearing Kafkaesque characters by
exacerbating everyday circumstances and rituals with a deft theatricality
and physicality comprised of body holds and slams that take contact
improvisation to another, highly visceral level. Río Seco
premiered in Buenos Aires in the summer of 2002.
The piece draws its inspiration from "images of family vacations
in the mountainous area rivers" of the Argentinean countryside.
As one can infer from the title, Río Seco, is anything but bucolic.
Set to original music by Gabriel Almendros and Fernando Tur, Krapp
uses rich imagery and heightened abstraction to convey feelings
of isolation, "otherness," profound loneliness, marginalization,
and desperation in a surreal environment. The dancers' mechanical
and brusque movements underscore this tense interplay of sensations,
images and actions which, ultimately, attest to the fragile condition
of the human soul.
"This is avant-garde that sims to shock
and unsettle but also to please".
Octavio Roca, The San Francisco Chronicle
"Their
country may be falling apart, but the Argentine dance theater troupe
Grupo Krapp couldn't have been more together, more absurb and more
humane". - The Austin American Statesman
¿No
Me Besabas? is and
exploration
of the vast and varied subject of violence. Set to musical fragments
from Argentinean singer-songwriter Rosamel Araya, renowned Cuban
composer/musician Compay Segundo and the England-based Iraqi group
Fun-da-men-tal, the piece interweaves acrobatics, boxing, acting
and playwriting to display arresting physicality and a delightfully
absurd sense of humor. A striking series of vivid tableaux and a
driving musical score of boleros, Cuban son, and techno-house rhythms
set the tone for this piece. ¿No me besabas? dramatically
manipulates concepts of space, time and movement, to portray hypothetical
aspects of what is characterized as a "violent," state of mind such
as desire, exhaustion, and love. The company creates an underworld
of psychotic, yet hauntingly endearing Kafkaesque characters by
exacerbating everyday circumstances and rituals with a deft theatricality
and physicality comprised of body holds and slams that take contact
improvisation to another, highly visceral level. Río Seco
premiered in Buenos Aires in the summer of 2002.