America

Dominating the screens of a global stage, a no-holds-barred showman makes the race for the White House a triumph of showmanship. He mischievously uses his simplistic rhetoric and brilliantly plays on paradox: the character is both entertaining and chilling. The rusticity of the messages echoes the complexity of the world, the musicality of the language coats the coarseness of the words, the speech celebrates love and brute force, sings of pride while plunging us into a dark night. But as these words ring out like a death knell, the curtain rises on other tales; tales of hope, optimism and adventure of a colorful, confident America that breaks down walls. The choreographer captures the electric, tumultuous energy of this society in an explosive, jubilant dance full of the unexpected.

America is part of a creative continuity, taking up and completing earlier works by Martin Harriague, such as Walls (2019) for the Basque-Spanish company Dantzaz and Americaaa (2020) for Leipzig Ballet. These creations punctuate a journey that began in Israel, where he acquired the physicality of his dance and an aversion to walls, and ends at New York's prestigious Baryshnikov Arts Center in autumn 2024, where he will be in residence in the midst of the American election.

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