Lia Rodrigues (BR): Encantado

In Brazil, the word « encantado » has several meanings. It can be either a synonym of astonishment and wonder or qualify the effects of a magic spell, as in the French « enchanté », but it also has its own meaning in Afro-American culture. Here, it is used to designate animated entities, the « encantados », which navigate between land and sky, dunes and rocks, and which turn them into sacred places. It is these mysterious forces, intimately linked to nature, under threat in today's world, which are the inspiration behind Lia Rodrigues's Encantado, a piece which bears the hallmarks of the context in which it was created. With the Covid-19 impacting particularly heavily on Brazil, the choreographer, committed to the democratisation of art in her country, asked herself the question of how we could « enchant our fears » in order to recreate a dynamic collective and bring individuals closer together. In doing so, Encantado is an invitation to return to natural sources of strength, in search of images, landscapes and movements which – similar to the « encantados » – journey from one body to the next.