GENTIAN DODA - A BREAKTHROUGH CHOREOGRAPHER

It's been a while since I experienced the great pleasure of being surprised by a work of imagination, intelligence, and good taste. Last Saturday night, we had the opportunity to see the young company CN2 at the Teatro de la Villa Molina with a varied program that made a lasting impression, thanks to the very young Albanian artist Gentian Doda, who was the real revelation of the evening. Believe me, this name will give people a lot to talk about.

When you say that it's difficult for someone to impress you at this level, you find yourself biting your tongue and promising yourself to be more careful next time. “Sin lo cual no,” by Gentian Doda, is a manifesto about frenetic urban life, where nine bodies in motion truly manage to move the audience toward new experiences. But the success of this piece is the sum of all its elements: set design, lighting design, costumes, music, movement, and the performers. A compact, spark-filled work that leaves no room for tedium, it gives the leading role to the choreography for its great communicative power, its capacity to generate a new way of conceiving dance, and its close relationship with space.

The dancers appear, in a seemingly random manner, suspended in the air by their legs, supported by the shoulders of their asymmetrical partners. Four cords fall randomly from the ceiling, free to hook onto the floor, while the light passes through the figures, creating the optical effect of images reflected in a mirror. Little by little, the movement becomes clearer and the activity begins to crescendo. The bodies move both alone and in groups, entering and exiting without rest.

The piece had its premiere last week at the Teatro de Madrid. A true delight that will surely harvest many successes. […]