Don Quixote spectacle ← → ×

Première at theatre Arsenic, Lausanne, October 31st, 1990.

Let us leave the imagery there where it is to be found – among souvenir shops, or buried in children’s books. There, where Don Quixote resembles the images of our creation, there where we already no longer resemble our own.

Let us talk about a fictitious character, who evolves in an unsettled world abounding in pretence. Who tirelessly pursues his image, in order to free himself of it, or to cling to it. Who could find sustenance in shadows.

Let us talk of the faculty of the character to deform his perception of the world.

We are not going to tell you the story of Don Quixote, therefore there is no point in looking for Sancho Panza! Rather we are seeking inspiration in the universe of Don Quixote and not endeavoring to retranslate the works of Cervantes.

What we are dealing with is the power of imagination, of its faculty to transform an awareness of the world. Of this artifice which we create, enabling us to live; of the indispensable illusions. Of our faculty in creating a world, repudiating all that surrounds us. Of our contradictions in treating those who, like Don Quixote, withdraw into their own world, as being mad.
In short, the human condition.

Saire’s Don Quixote was a metaphorical evocation which opened onto wider horizons dealing with dance conventions and even the human condition. Tapestry panels repeatedly unfurled to set the scene, only to be hurled away by dancers rejecting historical specificity. They preferred to pursue their own shadowy ideals, to fight their own internal demons.
Saire presented his piece as a context for an impressive choreographic talent, able to create vivid graphic shapes and contrapuntal patterns.
Nadine Meisner, The Times 13.05.1991

Vibrantly coloured, intricately detailed tapestries illustrating scenes from the life of Don Quixote unfurl ceremonously and dissect the space. But the dancers hurl them from the stage. No Chevalier, no Sancho Panza, no windmills. This is Cervantes’ universe from the inside – the joyful battle of life fought on great plains against wide horizons, a battle which saddens with mature regret in the shadows of undiscovered corners.
The three men and two women of Philippe Saire’s company are heroic in their exploration of this densely poetic landscape, urged on by the insistent rythms of Martin Chabloz’ brilliantly atmospheric score.
The Place, London, May 1991

Paul Adler, Alain Barraud, Eric Bart, Roger Baudet, Jean-Pierre Baur, Miguel Cervantes, Carline Coigny, Alberto Daniel, Pierre Degaudenzi, Odile Ferrard, Boris Fischer, Jacques Gardel, Christiane Glauser, Laurence Imhoff, Marie-Claude Jéquier, Bernard Krähenbuehl, Eric Lesquereux, Reinhold Metz, Chantal Michetti, Brigitte Monod, Ursula Murkens, Jean-Michel Pellegrino, Marinette Pradervand, Serge A. Receveur, Gianni Schneider, Albrecht Schwarz, Alain Suard, Michel Thévoz, Rosanna Valle, Jacques Veillard, Laurette Wettstein, Jacques Zeller.

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