Marcos Morau presents "Sonoma" in Avignon: "Buñuel is alive"
The Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau after the premiere of “Sonoma” in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des papes at the Festival d'Avignon 2021. © Siegfried Forster / RFI
Text by: Siegfried Forster Follow
6 mins
An enthusiastic audience applauded Wednesday July 21 the premiere of
Sonoma
in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des papes at the Festival d'Avignon.
With its story and its movements both dreamlike and dislocated, its successions of scenes and silhouettes, its jumps in time and between reality and imagination, between tradition and modernity, the piece, punctuated by the great drums of Aragon, is a tribute danced and sung from the great Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau to Luis Buñuel.
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RFI
:
Sonoma
is very inspired by the filmmaker Luis Buñuel, famous director of the surrealist short
Un chien andalou
, written with Salvador Dali in 1929.
Why do you stress that
Sonoma
is not a play about
Buñuel
, but for Buñuel
?
Marcos Murau
:
Buñuel is the great Spanish filmmaker who inspires many filmmakers and artists.
I'm sure Buñuel is alive.
I wonder how he would continue to practice his art today, in the 21st century.
The play does not speak about him, it is inspired by him, by his universe, by his way of approaching art, narration, the composition of the characters.
For me, it's a tribute to him, because he touched me, he inspires me.
I can really identify with his work and his world.
For us, the members of my company,
Sonoma
is a great gift.
You describe
Sonoma
as “
the body of sound and the sound of the body
”.
What is the connection between body, sound and movement
?
In
Sonoma
, the nine dancers sing, shout, pray, speak, they use the sounds of their bodies.
They hit the beat with their bodies.
Sound is really important in
Sonoma
, and so are the songs.
Sound is also very important in the tradition, for example the jumps on the ground.
In
Sonoma
, movement, sound and body are a perfect combination.
By using the sound of the body or by using their body, they can be connected to the earth, but also with the sky and the universe.
What's going on up there?
We do not know it.
This too is a good question asked by
Sonoma
.
"Sonoma", by Marcos Morau.
© Christophe Raynaud de Lage / Festival d'Avignon
Sonoma
constitutes a fusion of many elements
: traditional, folkloric, religious, surrealist, modern, contemporary elements ... And the aesthetic on stage is inspired by a multitude of art forms
: cinema, painting, literature, photography , music, from Debussy to electronic sounds… Is the goal to create a sort of total work of art
? Do you want to become a sort of
21st century "
Richard Wagner
"
?
Nowadays, the frontier of the arts - theater, cinema, dance, literature ... - everything is really fragile and very connected.
Today, the name of what you do is not important, everyone does everything.
I think it's time to explore new means of communication, new ways to transcend and reach audiences.
To make a “total” piece is really difficult to achieve.
But the first step is to break down the walls and use all the things you need to come up with your idea, your thoughts, your mind, and your position.
During creation, do you have in mind this notion of a total work of art
?
I don't think of a total work of art, but I think everything is welcome.
If you need dance or movement, you use it.
If you need a speech, you use words.
If you need a projection, you use it.
Over the past twenty years, everything has really been mixed up.
Nothing matters in terms of “naming what you do”.
I was born in 1982, and I'm sure for my whole generation and for the younger generation even more, the transverse part is the main thing, the most important thing.
"Sonoma", by Marcos Morau.
© Christophe Raynaud de Lage / Festival d'Avignon
You have already presented
Sonoma
in Spain. Yesterday, you experienced the great premiere in France, in the prestigious Cour d'honneur of the Palais des papes. What was the most difficult thing to bring this piece to life in such a vast and historic place
?
It was really very complex to do, because this place is very big and very beautiful, there is so much. It is a very famous place for all artists. So we had to adapt the room, adapt the space, play with verticality, sound, colors, aesthetics ... It's really difficult, because we usually work in a small space, in a large theater, not as big as the Palais des Papes. There is the outside, the night, the moon, the wind, a lot of influences can pervert and change the room, but that's part of the game. We try to bring our art to this place, we watch the place and see how we can interact with him, how we can make the room even bigger.
►
Sonoma
, Cie La Veronal (Barcelona), choreography by Marcos Morau, from July 21 to 25 in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des papes at the Festival d'Avignon.
The play will be broadcast on July 25 at 10 p.m. live on Arte, before a tour of Europe.
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