Company Finzi Pasca- DONKA

The great magic of the circus pays homage to Chekhov in a show of visions, delicate equilibriums, dancers, acrobats and jugglers. Donka is the latest creation of Daniele Finzi Pasca – already confirmed as a leading figure on the international scene and author of unforgettable shows with Cirque Eloize and Cirque du Soleil – who this time immerses himself in the writer’s life, his writings and his diaries, decoding his notes and annotations, and giving shape and form to his famous, enigmatic silences. Donka, in Russian, is a little bell fixed on to a fishing rod which rings whenever a fish bites: Chekhov adored fishing, and for him it was a way of abandoning himself to meditation. Finzi Pasca, fascinated by this image, and always looking for “states of lightness” in his work as choreographer, fishes in the pool of circus fantasy to give life to a visual poem of suspended objects and bodies. An international cast of able performers, decadent clowns, musicians, dancers and acrobats animates the stage, while underneath Maria Bonzanigo’s music spreads like a resonant carpet, recalling the atmosphere of far away Russia. There are accordions, waltzes, old romances and traditional choirs, while a gallery of Chekhov characters parades by, eternal students, doctors, dreamers, bachelors, young girls who will spend their lives mourning. Moments of a lost world follow each other, with the songs of birds, the sound of the wind in the branches, Chinese shadows and explosions of colour. Our amazement is awakened, continuously.

“I decided to discover Chekhov looking for particulars and details, both in his life and in the pages of his writings, and not only that. I thought of giving shape to the silences contained in the notes of his diaries and of creating images from his annotations. I come from a theatre deeply impregnated with the language of clowns, of jugglers, from the delicate and magical world of acrobats. That is how I will recall Chekhov and to do it I will surround myself with the same accomplices as always, creators with whom I have worked for years and with whom I share not only the same sense of aesthetics and way of thinking of the theatre, but also the passionate way of defending our imaginary world.”

- Daniele Finzi Pasca, Writer and Director, September 2009

Technical Rider Le Temps review, January 16, 2010 Press reviews Gazeta review, February 4, 2010 Bio: Daniele Finzi Pasca Bio: Julie Hamelin

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Manager: Jean-Jacques Cesbron

Management Territory: Worldwide with Limited Exceptions