IL FAUX

In his book Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehesi Coates writes a letter to his teenage son, who begins to learn about the world and its dangers. Being a Black man in the United States, Coates knows that his son could lose his body at any moment. It’s a body that does not belong to him, and which lives in fear of being taken away in an instant. One’s body can be lost to the violence of the police, to the logic of the streets and their gangs, or to the possibility of an easier life by erasing its roots and suddenly becoming an empty bag with no inner life. This book is the starting point for Calixto Neto’s new creation. After co-creating Outrar with Lia Rodrigues in 2021, the Brazilian-born dancer and choreographer returns to the festival with a world premiere. He brings to the stage notions of manipulation, exploring the ventriloquist technique. His body emits a speech without being identified as the speaker, as if it were an imposter; his body moves as if it doesn’t belong to him. IL FAUX bursts into a myriad of gestures and sounds. It is a tribute to all those for whom one’s body is continually reconquered, reaffirmed, and reassured. Through his incredible stage presence, Calixto Neto guides us as in a magic show between the dispossession of the body and the power of its reconquest.