Moonlight

Salida Productions and Anna Alvarez Dance Company

A World Premiere of

MOONLIGHT

By Anna Alvarez

Directed and devised by Andrea Pelaez and Ed Hughes.

Moonlight/ Ch'lsi is a dance theatre piece rooted in native Mapuche culture - the indigenous tribes of Argentina and Chile. For them, the time of moonlight was the time of ceremony.

“Ch’Isi” uses the languages of dance, theatre and video projection to tell the story of a young woman seeking to trace her family ancestry to better understand her own identity and legacy.

Exploring the mythical and real worlds of three generations of women, it travels deep into the roots of Mapuche culture and the tension between these and modern urban life.

REVIEWS

MOONLIGHT REVIEW - THE CAMDEN NEW JOURNAL

The two-million-strong Mapuche, who live mostly in Chile but also in western Argentina, have been fighting since the Spanish conquistadores for equal rights, and against land appropriation and poverty.

This week, they are the subject of a brilliantly original dance-theatre production, a highlight of the CASA Festival of Latin American theatre and dance. Based on the Mapuche celebration of moonlight (ch’lsi in the Mapuche language) and ceremony, the Anglo-Latino production Moonlight (Ch’lsi) is a bewitching mix of traditional and modern dance.

Three Mapuche are first seduced by a mischievous rain god then rescued by him from the depredations of city life where like many displaced Mapuche they are reduced to begging.

The four dancers – Anna Alvarez, Wu Hsing-Ya, Akshay Sharma and Sharin Johry bring their Latin and Asian roots to the stage with remarkable performances. The pick of the bunch is Johry as the satyr like rain god. The music, a cocktail of indigenous fusion and trance, is as central to the narrative as a ballet score.

Choreographed by Brighton-based, Argentinian-Brazilian Alvarez, Moonlight (Ch’lsi) is one of CASA’s top offerings this year and will go on to even greater successes.