Residency : The River and The Devil
by Paula Almiron on September 2023
"Pendant ma résidence à Meyboom, j'ai travaillé sur le texte et la chorégraphie du spectacle The River and The Devil, qui a été créé en février 2025. J'ai utilisé cet espace comme salle de répétition, principalement seule, mais j'ai également reçu à différents moments la visite des conseillers dramaturgiques David Weber-Krebs, Simon Asencio et Louise Vanneste." Combinant danse, fiction et narration collective, la pièce évoque le sentiment de vivre parmi les ruines, en posant la question de ce qui reste lorsqu'une rivière disparaît. Les figures mythologiques et les esprits qui protégeaient autrefois la rivière persistent comme des échos dans cette méditation obsédante sur la perte et la persévérance. Plus d'informations sur le projet ici.
The River and The Devil invites the audience into the ruins of a disappearing river.
"During the resindency at Meyboom, I worked on the text and the choreographic material of the performance The River and The Devil, that premièred in February 2025. I used the space as a rehearsal space, mostly alone, but also visited in different moments by the dramaturgical advisers David Weber-Krebs, Simon Asencio and Louise Vanneste."
During colonial times in the Bolivian Andean Plateau, the river Desaguadero and its uncontrollable forces were demonized as ‘the Devil’ by colonial settlers. Since then, centuries of extraction have dried up the river, transforming it from water to salt. In The River and The Devil, Paula Almiron reimagines the Devil not as a destructive force but as the guardian of the river, exploring resilience and the remnants of fragmented histories. The river has turned into broken pieces, hiding and moving towards us unannounced.
Combining dance, fiction and collective storytelling, The River and The Devil evokes a sense of living among ruins, asking what remains when a river disappears. Mythological figures and spirits that once protected the river linger as echoes in this haunting meditation on loss and endurance.
Find more pictures and informations about the project here.
