Retouramont performs tonight at the Costa Rica International Arts Festival.

This group of French ballerinas captured a Costa Rican audience last night in the Plaza de la Cultura, with their presentation of “Réflexion de façade”, a ballet taking place in another dimension. The artists seemed to be dancing vertically on the parade of the Grand Hotel Costa Rica, then, in the air, they could have disappeared in the sky, but came back in a twirl like twisting, dancing flames.

With the aid of elastics attached to the top of the building, they performed a dance up the walls and on a cable stretched between the roof of the National Theatre and the Grand Hotel. The artists were flying, rolling and turning, pirouetting, stretching and twisting to the sound of the accordion and violoncello, in a dance that defied gravity, full of grace, charm, joy, danger and talent.

Retouramont is a French ballet company started in 1995 by choreographers Geneviève Mazin and Fabrice Guillot. They have always been influenced by the urge to defy the impossible, to make their dancers float, fly and submerge themselves in the ground. The performance “Reflection of facade” was born of the impossibility of uniting dance and architecture into a single artistic expression. They have performed the routine over historic monuments, churches, bridges and highways, lighthouses and even an Olympic swimming pool. Each performance becomes part of the space where it is performed, making it universal.

Last night in Plaza de la Cultura, while the audience held their breath, one of the artist appeared on the cable stretched across the plaza, dancing on the breeze, while the others gave the cable a little shake to make it a little more interesting. Slowly she crossed the plaza, seemingly sliding and suspended in the air. The enthusiastic response of the public was not disappointing; a storm of applause, screams and whistles, while the performers never stopped their pirouetting, seemingly fearless, like goddesses dancing in the wind. The magic and the beauty of the presentation, never seen before in this country, took the audience on an inspirational voyage that left them in awe. The Retouramont will be performing again this evening at 6:00pm at the Plaza de la Cultura, be sure to be there, this is a one in a lifetime experience!

For more information about Retouramont, visit their website here:  pagesperso-orange.fr/cie.retouramont/index_en.html

The International Arts Festival will continue through this weekend in Costa Rica with a never ending lineup of dance, music, magician and story-telling performances in La Sabana park, and several other venues throughout the city. It was also announced that the “Suprise performance” for this Friday evening on the Banco Nacional Lake Stage will be by Mal Pais, the Costa Rican alternative group.

Costa Rica Information updated daily.

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Filed under: Living on April 16th, 2008