MYSTICAL SELF
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Premiere 18. 9. 2024 Komedie Theatre Prague
"Mystical Self" invites us to explore the depths of our inner world, embracing its mysteries, and look for solace while shadows dance and whispers echoes. It is a reminder that beneath the surface of our everyday lives lies a profound and infinite expanse, waiting to be discovered and experienced.
With a non-linear narrative, “Mystical Self” interconnects behavioral, expressions, and communicative similarities between beings. Edivaldo intuitively juxtaposes images and movement gestures, developed collectively with the dancers, inspiring them to delve into their own transformations and reach different characters.
Credits:
Choreography, direction and concept: Edivaldo Ernesto
Performed by: Adam Sojka, Leo Terris, Lukas Lizama Garrido, Jana Hampl Maroušková, Paula Morejón García, José Guzmán
Music: Ivan Acher
Costumes: Simona Rybáková (creative collaboration Barbora Kotěšovcová)
Sound: Eva Hamouzová
Light design: Jan Hugo Hejzlar
Production: Soňa Hájek Bartková
Photo: Vojtěch Brtnický
Duration: 60 min
Producer: Lenka Vagnerová & Company
Co-production: Městská divadla pražská / City Theatre Prague
Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Capital City of Prague, IDU, PerformCzech, EU Next Generations - funded by EU, Czech Recovery Plan
Edivaldo Ernesto, dancer, teacher, choreographer, improvisation expert, Born in Mozambique, currently based in Berlin, he is deeply influenced by his Mozambican background and West African traditional dance. He has performed numerous times with David Zambrano, and Sasha Waltz & Guests company as a guest and permanent member. He has collaborated with Linda Kapetanea and RootlessRoot on the duet Half the Truth, with Ocar winner composer and pianist Volker Bertelmann aka Hauschka on the creation of the project An Encounter of Improvised Music & Dance and with trumpet soloist Marco Blaauw on the project I Can’t Breathe, were he was awarded Best Dancer 2020 by the jury of the Italian Danza&Danza Awards. Ernesto is the creator and developer of the Depth Movement and Next Level workshops and Solo choreography “Tears”, “Brace”, “Access to the road” and Error. He has taught and performed across Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia.
Since 2011 Edivaldo Ernesto had been immersed in the investigation and development of his Workshops: “Depth Movement” and “ Next Level”.
Is there something like a “message” for the audience that they should find in the performance or something you really want them to get from it?
What I want from the audience is to get those two directions: attention and tension. When the show starts, the dancers on the stage become one. I want the audience to feel it. There might be a message, but I don ́t want to pass it to the audience in one direction and I even don ́t tell the dancers. I let them find the message of their own work. Regarding the audience, I would say: Please come and get your interpretation. Maybe our interpretation is going to be exactly the same, or maybe you're going to have a different one. Be ready to read it in different ways. I love to build this attention and tension with the audience. We all become one. - from the interview with Edivaldo / Lucie Kocourková (Moderní divadlo no. 1, 2024/2025)
Full interview with Edivaldo / Lucie Kocourková (Moderní divadlo no. 1, 2024/2025)
REVIEWS:
"Mystical Self by Edivaldo Ernesto is a gut-wrenching statement that will not leave you in peace, but instead assaults your physical and mental receptors with incredibly obsessive vehemence.”
"Edivaldo Ernesto drives the raw expression of the performers to the edge of madness. And he does so with undisguised delight…”
"In Mystical Self, Edivaldo Ernesto draws you into the dark recesses of human souls, lost and immersed in a decadent flow of thoughts and emotions."
"Their performances, when the choreographer forces them to "touch their bottom", are magnificently mesmerizing." LUCIE DERCSÉNYI / Taneční aktuality
“Absolutely unique, even shocking, is the way of physical expression, where overwhelming energy transforms into pure ecstasy. The mad, aggressive tempo slows down only for brief moments. Is there even time to stop? Extraordinary were the performances of all six company dancers (Adam Sojka, Matilde Giacomelli, Léonard Vo Tan, Leo Terris, Lukas Benjamin Lizama Garrido, Dalma Kitley).” Marcela Benoni / Divadelní noviny
“Lenka Vagnerová invited choreographer Edivaldo Ernesto to collaborate on the new project, and together they led us into a mystical trance, enveloping the Komedie Theatre in a heavy cloak of existential themes from which it was hard to escape.”
“Sharpness, combativeness, aggression, and mystical tension are qualities present on stage from beginning to end.”
“Mystical Self carried a mystical tone on all levels — from the music, costumes, and smoke effects to the movements and expressions of the performers. It was mysterious and combative, accumulating an intense atmosphere of concentration in the audience. At the same time, for those who managed to let go, it offered the chance to dissolve into the rhythm of the music, combined with the rhythms of the bodies, and be swept away by the explosive performances of the dancers.” Lenka Vořechovská / Opera+
AUDIENCE REACTIONS:
Garpona 100% 26.9.2024
fervent, intense, hypnotising
Martinhaj 100% 5.11.2024
Frenzied, shocking, brilliant! Incredible performance by the dancers. Searching for self, subconscious, desire, movement.
