The music of Silvestre Revueltas It is an emotional force
that has been constant in my career; in Crying, We seek that energy to transcend to delve into a myth deeply rooted in our culture, said Enrique Abraham Vélez Godoy, director of the Philharmonic of the Arts.
Inspired by the legend of The Llorona, The group will premiere a performance today in the Fra Angelico auditorium of the Cultural University Center (CUC). In this montage, dance, music and a narrative that revisits history from a psychiatric hospital at the end of the 19th century merge, with Revueltas’ music as a backdrop.
The figure of The Llorona It is omnipresent in Mexican culture; Since childhood, many have heard stories of a wandering woman mourning the loss of her children. That image has populated nightmares and children’s games for generations. However, on this occasion, the work transports the legend to an unconventional environment
Vélez Godoy added in an interview with The Day.
We wanted to explore the myth from a different perspective, one of those places where madness and human suffering are viscerally present. The scenic proposal, which includes neoclassical choreography under the direction of Elliot Lyss, adds a layer of expressiveness that fuses the theatrical with the dance to transport the viewer to live a multisensory experience.
One of the biggest challenges for the concert director and his team was to select the music that would give life to this reinterpretation of the myth. Silvestre Revueltas, with his avant-garde and emotionally charged style, became the natural choice.
We chose Revueltas’ music for its strength, its complexity and its ability to evoke atmospheres so charged with emotion.
Vélez Godoy mentioned. His works are not easy to interpret, as they are full of unconventional rhythms and constant changes that demand high concentration and precision from the musicians.
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Revueltas, known worldwide for works such as The night of the Mayans y Tribute to García Lorca, It has been performed by the best orchestras in the world, from the New York Philharmonic to the Berlin Philharmonic. Despite its prestige, Many of his compositions are not so well known to the general public.
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The Philharmonic of the Arts took the initiative to bring to light this valuable repertoire, connecting it with Crying This particular piece seeks to capture the desperation, pain and anguish that surrounds the plot.
The reinterpretation of The Llorona that Vélez Godoy proposes is not located in alleys or lakes, like most traditional versions. Instead, he transports the viewer to a psychiatric hospital.
We wanted to place the story in a space where mental suffering is tangible
explained the director. At that time, treatments for mental illness were rudimentary and often inhumane; It was experimented on patients and electrical therapies were more traumatic than curative. Imagine a woman trapped in that environment, losing her children and consumed by her pain.”
Elliot Lyss, choreographer of the work, worked together with the Philharmonic Arts dance company to develop a body language that complements the emotional power of the music.
For Vélez Godoy “it is a challenge, because we are not talking about a classical or contemporary dance, but rather a fusion of styles that requires great technical and emotional mastery of 15 dancers. The inclusion of neoclassical dance, with costumes that evoke both the pre-Hispanic and the colonial, is a nod to the fusion of times and spaces that the work proposes.
The relationship with the Revueltas family has been key in the development of this work. Eugenia Revueltas, daughter of the composer, has been a great admirer of the Philharmonic of the Arts and has enthusiastically supported the idea of bringing her father’s music to this context. In terms of production and artistic proposal we are proud of what we have achieved.
The functions of Llorona They will be on Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 and 6 p.m., starting today and until November 9 at the CUC (Dentistry 35, Copilco neighborhood). Tickets can be purchased on the website https://n9.cl/amuiw5