Repertoire
Synaphai
Synaphai, a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Iannis Xenakis, motivated Nacho Duato to express in this ballet the central choreographic idea in a plastic manner. It has been Duato's intention to highlight human feelings from an essentially individual point of view
The ballet is structured in three parts: In the first one, a groupof eight dancers move in one block, under a strange confusion of voices, narrating in seven different languages but in unison a text written by Duato himself, concerning survival, death, loneliness. The movements, with their hieratic touches, remind us of the Egyptian funerary monuments. Xenakis’ music is heard in the second part, when the set of dancers breaks upand a series of solos, duos, and trios are performed, full of abrupt and desperate movements.
The dancers feel a continuous attraction to the ground, as if it were a force taking hold of them. They try to break free, fighting without success against the wall. In the third part, a pas de deux on music composed by Vangelis opens upan encouraging road. It’s the calm that follows the storm. Nacho Duato did not pretend to present us with a final solution to the human strain and anguish; only an individual answer could lead us to a conclusion.
