The garden of the Hesperides

“The Garden of the Hesperides” is a Spanish-Moroccan project that has been developed through an exhaustive research process and through various workshops held with Moroccan and Spanish women in Casablanca and Valladolid, giving rise to the creation of this piece of dance-theater.
A show, which is a hymn to women, on a round trip between cultures and their peculiarities, and which serves to celebrate the 25 years of history of the Alicia Soto-Hojarasca company. Created in three artistic residencies, Thèâtre Ain Harrouda, Casablanca, Centro Cultural Serrada, and Teatro Calderón de Valladolid, The garden of the Hesperides It premiered on September 25 and 26, 2020 at the Calderón Theater in Valladolid with the support of the Calderón Theater in Valladolid and General Subdirectorate of International Relations and European Union, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, Visages Program.
.

Synopsis

What's behind every woman's face I've known,
What story is behind each look,
It does not matter where they come from, nor what country they come from, the gardens are the same, there are similar hells, and paradise is not reserved for them, because they are women.
Alice Soto

“Everything starts with a woman's body and the desire to feel life.
Only later does the fear and greed to possess and dominate take hold.
Freedom and daring scare those who have never traveled,
but the deep blood patiently digs the place of the flower that will be
star. In each womb the echo of the garden echoes, primordial and eternal
And despite the dangers, the abandonment and the exhaustion.»
From grains of sand and tears in drops, new roots are invented
and a different sky»

Julio Martin de la Fonseca

Our Garden of the Hesperides represents the inner garden of women; of all women universally, women of different cultures, religions, places and times. From the dreamlike, through the poetic description, the place that every woman builds to dream, to rest, to take breath, to quench her thirst and build an intimate world is shown, which helps her to continue, in other cases to survive. The garden only exists if darkness is known. The garden only exists if darkness is known.

The Hesperides, according to Greek mythology, were the melides, nymphs, who tended a garden sheltered by fruit trees of golden apples that granted immortality. This fruit garden according to Greek mythology could be located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula or in the Moroccan Atlas. Hence the title The Garden of the Hesperides.

artistic sheet

Creation and choreography: Alicia Soto
Artistic collaboration: Abdellah Chakiri
Dramaturgy: Alicia Soto, Julio Martín da Fonseca and Carmen Samudio Kostina
Theater direction: Julio Martín da Fonseca
Performers: Lorenza Di Calogero, Paloma Calderón, Sanae Assif, Ester Lozano and Alicia Soto
Texts: Carmen Samudio Kostina et al.
Original music: Abdellah M. Hassak
Lighting Design: Miguel Ángel Camacho
Technician: Álvaro Guisado
Costume design: Elisa Sanz
Photography: Luis A. Barajas
Video: Mundimag
Communication: Lemon press
Production: Ester Lozano, João Sousa Marques and Marta Besteiro

 

Project

See downloadable project resources in the right section

Press reviews

By: Carlos Toquero Sandoval

«… This last work is, for me, another pleasant surprise, a breakthrough in his career. And it is the result of three workshops that this choreographer has carried out in Lisbon, her current home, Morocco and Valladolid. Work done with women because it is a reflection on women of any condition and ethnicity, from anywhere in the world. (...) Very good dancing actresses Lorenza Di Calogero, Paloma Calderón, Sanae Assif, Ester Lorenzo and Alicia Soto, interesting music by Abdellah Hassak, original lighting by Miguel Ángel Camacho, and good theatrical direction by Julio Martín da Fonseca».

By: Cristina de Lucas

«The subtle narrative thread that sustains the work builds a story of liberation that alternates rage and serenity, challenge and despondency, sensuality and anguish. Despite the powerful dramatic charge, the general tone is not emphatic, complaining or violent, but rather introspective and even hopeful at times. (...) The choreography created by Soto as a vehicle for such deep and suggestive reflection includes powerful images and symbols. Raised fists sometimes hint at a desire for revenge, sometimes suggest impotence, and sometimes visualize inner turmoil. Bodies that roll and slide laboriously across the floor evoke feelings of humiliation and physical suffering, but also that unbreakable will to get up that articulates the work."

By: Margarita Muñoz Zielinski

«(…) Everything conjugated in perfect harmony achieves a really interesting work. Different stories in different scenes. Dance-Theatre. Body expression. Contemporary dance. A style made up of so many details that it is difficult to classify due to its successful difference from others seen so many times in other Companies. (...) Alicia Soto, as a choreographer, extracts incredible resources from each part of the female body, such as her own hair, collected, loose or shaken, swinging like her arms».

By: Paloma Calderon

«A garden that has been created thanks to the great work carried out by a top-level artistic team, made up of names such as Alicia Soto herself, creator, choreographer, director and performer; Julio Martín da Fon seca, who has been in charge of the theatrical direction; the great Elisa Sanz, designer of scenic space and costumes who has 8 Max Awards to her credit -and who this year 2020 has just won one more-, and has been in charge of designing all the costumes for the play and the prominent designer Miguel Ángel (arnacho with also several Max awards to his credit ».

Share

upcoming features

So far there are no new sessions planned

en_USEnglish