The origin of all this lies in Réquiem, a choreography on the subject of duels created by Silvia Batet in 2020 as the final piece of her choreography degree. In it she used rotation to stay in the same place while still moving, like whirling dervishes appealing to divinity by describing infinite circles. From this image, Silvia Batet incorporates the full-length traditional dress donned by the religious Sufis to create images of great beauty. The choreographer and her dancers have continued to work on the concept of rotation, but they have also explored movement through space that evokes the movement of dancers of the beryozka, a traditional Russian dance in which the performers evolve in such a way that it seems like they are not even touching the floor. With all these elements, this choreography suggests a mental space for remembrance, the moments we visit and revisit in our memory in an infinite circle or, perhaps, the seven ascending circles of Purgatory that Dante describes in The Divine Comedy, another source of inspiration for this show. That classic Purgatory would be the transition space par excellence, conditioned by the idea of the circle, by the eternal wandering of bodies through space, as if in moving through space there were ultimately an act of letting go, a relinquishment of everything that ties us to suffering: memories, desires, identity... And perhaps the beyond and oblivion are, in fact, the same thing... An oneiric imaginary serves as the setting for this production, which aims to remember a body that is no longer on a course that runs from the physical body to the image we have of the body, from the image to memory of the image and from the memory of the image to fantasy, all enveloped in a kind of fog in which actual memories are diffused.
Silvia Batet, the creator of this choreography, has a professional diploma in classical dance from the Mari Cruz Alcalà Dance School and a degree in choreography from the Theatre Institute of Barcelona. Her choreographies have been performed at national events and competitions such as Russafa Escènica (Valencia), Ellas Crean (Madrid), GraciasxFavor (Santander), L'Estació Escènika (Barcelona), and the Madrid Choreography Competition (2017, 2018 and 2020), where she was awarded a danceWEB grant for the five-week training programme taught within the Vienna ImpulsTanz Festival. She has also worked with La Fura dels Baus and has been the resident choreographer at the choreographic creation and movement research centres La Caldera Les Corts and La Visiva in Barcelona.
A Grec 2021 Festival de Barcelona and Theatre Institute of Barcelona co-production.
OBLIVION won the 2020 Theatre Institute of Barcelona Dance Award.
Choreography and direction: Silvia Batet Performers: Marta García, Vera Palomino, Raquel Romero, Anna Serra, Pere Seda Musician: Sergi Puig Music editor: Jose González Scenographer and lighting: Carles Borràs, Sergio Roca Costumes designer: Marta Mas Soldevila Skirts making: Anna Whirling Production: Anastàtica Cultural Outside eye: Anna Rubirola
