Dido and Aeneas

Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas is given a choreographic adaptation for 10 dancers by the choreographer Blanca Li, in a powerful incarnation whose intimacy reinforces all the tragic beauty of this baroque masterpiece.

In the collective imagination, the love between Dido, queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, future founder of Rome, defines one of the highest expressions of the tragic passion of love. From the work Purcell composed in 1689, the Madrid-based Blanca Li proposes a staging both contemporary and anchored in tradition, on the version recorded by Les Arts Florissants and William Christie. In a modern claroscuro, glistening reflections dazzle and dance in the changing the light. The protagonists diffract as they evolve in a universe suspended between sky and water. In this way, Blanca Li completes a metamorphosis of this masterpiece in a sculptural, evolutive and sensual space.

Compagnie Blanca Li
Directed and choreographed by Blanca Li
assisted by Déborah Torres Garguilo and Glyslein Lefever 
Music Henry Purcell

Set design Blanca Li
with the participation of Pierre Attrait
assisted by Nina Coulais
Lighting Pascal Laajili
assisted by Jean-Luc Passarelli and Boris Pijetlovic
Costumes Laurent Mercier
assisted by Ghjulia Giusti Muselli

Piece for 10 dancers
with Alizée Duvernois, Victor Virnot, Gaël Rougegrez, Meggie Isabet, Quentin Picot, Martina Consoli, Maeva Lassere, Gaetan Vermeulen, Julien Marie-Anne and Coline Fayollee

Sound recording Les Arts Florissants - William Christie
at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona

^{Produced by Calentino - Compagnie Blanca Li
Coproductions La Villette, Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse, Théâtre de Liège, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona
Choreographic creation at the Studios de la Compagnie, Fondation Fiminco de Romainville
Hosted creation residency at Le Cube Garges
With the support of the Ministère de la Culture - Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Île-de-France}

^{Photo © Dan Aucante}