BILAKA KOLEKTIBOA & SCÈNE NATIONALE DU SUD-AQUITAIN present GERNIKA BY MARTIN HARRIAGUE

⇨ 22:00

⇨ Dance / Music

⇨ 60′

Specialists in traditional dance and music from the Basque Country, the young artists of Bilaka, a collective in partnership with the Southern-Aquitaine National Scene, invite internationally renowned artists of Basque origin, Martin Harriague and Stéphane Garin, to explore a dark page in the history of the Basque Country and Europe: the bombing of Guernica (Gernika in Basque), and through it, denounce the violence of wars in our time.

Whoever mentions Guernica, mentions Picasso and his eponymous manifesto, painted three months after the horror. Martin Harriague offers several nods to this striking canvas by emphasising its dramaturgy, the snapshot captured by the painter. Another important element of the work is the music, performed live on stage by three Basque musicians. As for the choreography, it itself represents a thrilling challenge—a fusion between the traditional language of Basque dance, the style from which the five dantzaris of Bilaka originate, and contemporary writing based on a solid classical training that characterises Martin Harriague’s style.

The objective is, here and now, to listen to the lingering resonance of what happened that day in Guernica. A tribute to a martyred city and a mandate to never forget the terrible consequences this tragedy had for all of humanity.

It is a meeting between traditional and contemporary culture. A look into the past to envision the future…