Igor x Moreno (ITA/ES/UK)

Karrasekare

September 4th - 6th at 19:30 & September 7th at 16:30, 2024 (80 min.)

DANISH PREMIERE: Inspired by the pagan carnival traditions of Sardinia and the Basque Country, KARRASEKARE invites us into a raw, surprising and sweaty ritual. Star choreographers Igor and Moreno channel the liberating energy of the carnival with wild costumes and infectious excitement.

Please note: Artist talk after the performance on September 5th.

Centuries of wild carnival traditions come to life on stage when Igor x Moreno create a thrilling pagan ritual of dance, song and blood in KARRASEKARE.

The performance is inspired by the Basque and Sardinian carnival traditions from the ancient times before the domination of Christianity. A time when the beginning of spring was not yet called carnival; a time when the spring solstice required a celebration of the flesh.

The result is a raw, surprising and sweaty ritual where wild and absurd costumes with horns, masks and fur manage to make the audience feel their infectious enthusiasm for the liberating energy of carnival. Filled with the dangers of dancing, singing, and drinking together, the performers recreate the vibrancy and spirit of the folk celebration while also challenging our inhibitions.

KARRASEKARE brings the wild and hot-blooded past of the carnival into the future. With the traditional rhythms that have been part of our dances for centuries, the performers create new and free identities that shatter our own self-perceptions. They bring us back to the beginning. Because even though we are unique and cultured beings, we are all still instinctive animals in human form.

‘Su Karrasecare’ means ‘carnival’ in Sardinian. The word ‘carnival’ (from Latin ‘remove meat’) originally referred to the Christian practice of abstaining from meat during Lent.

Age recommendation
Bora Bora recommends that the audience is at least 16+ years old. The performance contains nudity, theatre blood, strobe lights and loud sound.

Reviews

A joyful celebration of all things carnal. Eighty minutes of pure delight, bringing together brilliantly original choreography, gruelling performance and clever design. Full of surprises, the show moves seamlessly from gloomy stillness to chaotic misrule.
– The Reviews Hub, Jo Beggs

Not merely a performance to be watched; it is an experience to be felt deeply and pondered long after it ends. A remarkable piece of contemporary performance art. It challenges, provokes, and mesmerises, pushing the boundaries of comfort and convention. A testament to the power of art to evoke emotion, spark conversation, and challenge societal norms.
– Jadar, Robiful

A standout piece that is a testament to the power of dance to confront and provoke, offering a surrealistic experience that lingers long after the final note has faded.
Canal St Media, Paul Schofield 

A complex, layered, powerful work. that uncovers worlds, showing restless and alert souls and preparing us for a journey towards another time, the time of a non-regimented Carnival, untamed by capitalist consumerism.
– Limina Teatri, Paolo Ruffini

Irresistible and captivating, beautiful to watch and worthy of every reflection.
– Il Manifesto, Gianfranco Capitta

Earthy, carnal and enigmatic, the piece holds a queer imagery and evocative elements full of symbolism. (…) It is rare to see a work in which the origin of place is so well embedded in the artistic outcome.
– Springback Magazine, Ariadne Mike

Not for the faint-hearted.
– The Stage, Siobhan Murphy

For Igor x Moreno, movement is the main path to escape the solitude of the individual, movement is sociality, it is coming together for a secular and blood-soaked celebration of life.
– Krapp’s Last Post, Carlo Lei

[It is] the staging of that intangible heritage that unites peoples and communities across geographical boundaries and personal narratives. Digging into the ancient, sometimes into the crude, but always through a bold and brilliant truth.
Sipario, Maria Elena Ricci

Translates ancient cultures into carefully orchestrated anarchy, replete with stagey feeling and pagan carnival props. At once earthy and faraway, body-friendly and baroque, cathartic and voyeuristic.
Air Mail, Apollinaire Scherr

Om Igor x Moreno

Igor x Moreno is the name under which the works created by choreographers Igor Urzelai Hernando and Moreno Solinas – in collaboration with an extended group of artists – are presented.

Igor x Moreno’s works stem from a fascination for people and what makes us such special animals. They use choreography and mostly non-verbal languages to create experiences which can surprise, energise and unsettle. Their works – highly constructed whilst deeply concerned with liveness – visit and escape different genres and styles.

Igor x Moreno’s creative processes favour questions over answers, action over narration, communication over expression, alterity over diversity, patience over productivity. They don’t see entertainment as their duty, but as a useful communication tool. They work with rigour and playfulness. They value pointlessness.

The team – based across Europe – gathers in Sardinia and London, from where Igor x Moreno’s works have toured extensively in Europe and also in North and South America, Africa and Asia. Awards and recognitions include the Rudolf Laban Award and National Dance Awards and Total Theatre Awards nominations; their works have been selected for Aerowaves (2011, 2013 and 2015), NID Platform, British Council Showcase and British Dance Edition.

Moreno Solinas and Igor Urzelai Hernando are affiliate artists of The Place (London), they are co-artistic directors of Sardinian production company S’ALA (www.s-ala.com) and are board members of the Cultural Advisory Board of British Council Italy.

Om Igor x Moreno

Working in Aarhus

Karresekare, Igor x Moreno, residency Bora Bora“Karrasekare” is a Bora Bora co-production. In 2023, Igor x Moreno were in an artist residency at Bora Bora (their third over the years), where they produced parts of the show. Among other things, they tested scenography and had a dialogue with the Danish-based costume designer duo Kaspersophie.

The production has been created over a series of artist residencies at Bora Bora and several other co-producing partners, including some of the most esteemed dance venues in Europe, such as Theatre De La Ville in Paris, The Place in London, Fuorimargine in Sardinia, Romaeuropa in Rome and the Dutch Theatrefestival Boulevard.

Photos: Lea Ingemann Bjerg

Karresekare, Igor x Moreno, residency Bora Bora

Credits

Directors, Choreographers & Performers
Moreno Solinas
Igor Urzelai Hernando

Performer & Rehearsal Director
Margherita Elliot

Performers
Giulia Vacca
Marcella Mancini
Alessio Rundeddu
Matteo Sedda

Dramaturg
Simon Ellis

Original Music, Sound Design & Sound Technician
Edoardo Robert Elliot

Set, Costume and Props Designers
KASPERSOPHIE

Lighting Designer
Joshie Harriette

Lighting Technican and Re-lighter
Laurie Loads

Stage Manager (on tour)
Matteo Maragno

Stage Manager (creation)
Giovanni Spada

Rigger
Misha Benjamin

Project Producer
Davide Pisano

Project Administrator
Anna Paola Della Chiesa

Photos
Fabio Sau

Produced by
S’ALA and The Place

Co-produced with
Theatre De La Ville
Fuorimargine
Romaeuropa
Bora Bora
Theatrefestival Boulevard

In collaboration with
Toscana Terra Accogliente (with residencies at Anghiari Dance Hub and Armunia, and funding from Fabbrica Europa)
HKD – Croatian Cultural Centre

Co-commissioned by
Cambridge Junction
with support from the
Stobbs New Ideas Fund

Supported by the
Italian Cultural Institute in London
Italian Ministry of Culture’s Directorate General for Performing Art

NID Platform

Sponsor:
Viale s.r.l.

Created and toured thanks to funding from
MiC – Italian Ministry of Culture’s Directorate General for Performing Art
Regione Autonoma Della Sardegna
Fondazione Di Sardegna
Arts Council England

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