Thursday May 22, at 4.30 p.m. – Cinema Teatro Lux (Pisa)
Chiara Frigo, Emmanuel Jouthe
WHEN WE WERE OLD
by Chiara Frigo, Emmanuel Jouthe
collaboration on dramaturgy Guy Cools
artistic consultant and prompt Christine Charles
original sound Laurent Maslé
technical direction and light design Philippe Dupeyroux
costumes Madeleine St-Jacques
video Xavier Curnillon
production manager Laurence Fournier Campeau
distribution Raphaelle Perreault
production Danse Carpe Diem
with the support of Zebra Cultural Zoo, Conseil des Arts du Canada, CSC di Bassano del Grappa,
Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec, delegation of Québec (Roma), lnterzona (Verona),
DanceWhyProject (Roma)
photos Vanessa Forget
duration: 50’
When We Were Old is the result of the encounter between Italian choreographer Chiara Frigo and
Quebec choreographer Emmanuel Jouthe, which occurred during Triptych, a research project
developed in Italy and Canada. When We Were Old draws its inspiration from an episode which was
recalled during a walk in Vancouver’s old town. It is about the destiny the ancient rain forest was
bound to, having been transformed into a metropolis, and later into a gasoline station, which was
subsequently abandoned and converted into a public park. When We Were Old has an international
afflatus, not only for the dynamics of its production, but also for the image that underpins it: two
people who walk through landscapes that have been bent to the logic and cycles of deconstruction
and construction. How does the primal matter get into a dialogue with the urban fabric? The scene
gets dirty in metal and wood, while the performers’ bodies are engaged in a soft, frosty dance. In a
landscape that is in a constant metamorphosis, layers are lifted to be replaced by the unpredictable
order things will take. In the background, in the atmosphere created by sound and light, the echoes
of a past emerging out of a white linoleum floor. The new replaces the old, in a relentless ritual
where degenerating is necessary to start again on a new ground.