Fuerza bruta wayra is presented at the Cúpula Arenas (until March 10), a spectacular show, difficult to describe in words. To begin with, with an online consultation we discovered that wayra means ‘wind’ in the Quechua language and that it is also a name that parents give to their sons or daughters. The project of the Argentine company De La Guarda was born in 2003, with Diqui James and the composer Gaby Kerpel. But that doesn’t leave us in doubt, so La Vanguardia asks the audience, mostly young, while waiting at the entrance having a drink, what they come to see.
An Argentine couple who live in Barcelona, ??Florencia and Tomás, declare: “He is very well known in our country and we have known that he was coming here through the networks, because we have not seen him yet.” And what kind of show is it? “It’s a circus, but more participatory,” they say.
In search of the precise definition, La Vanguardia asks another couple, Camila and Gonzalo. They have no words to define what they will see, but they really want to enjoy the show: “We couldn’t see it in Buenos Aires and when we found out they were doing it in Barcelona, ??we didn’t want to miss the opportunity.” Are you Argentinian? “Yes, of course, like most of those around us.”
A group of three spectators may shed more light on us. Verónica and Emmanuel, who are happy that we ask if their name is written with one or two emes (“It’s the first time they’ve asked me”), declare that they have already seen the show in Argentina, which they repeat “because it’s a excellent show”, and they have invited a friend, Florencia: “They promised me a good time, that they would dance and surprise me.”
Inside the Arenas Dome, the 1,200 people who have entered are standing and waiting to be surprised by a show that uses 400 m2 of stage. We still have time to talk to Javier and María, who are from Vilanova i la Geltrú. “We do not know what we come to see nor have we prospected; We hope it surprises us.”
So, blind faith, like the darkness that surrounds the audience, between a cloud of smoke and some full-blown musical notes. And the show begins: music, yes, with a DJ included; and also a kind of batucada. Powerful fans begin to blow the wind, wayra, among the spectators, who have to move constantly, following the instructions, around the enormous surface of the dome depending on the time of the show. There are also children, like Helena, who does not leave the hand of her mother, Camila: “I hope to see the circus,” declares the girl, who has her father working with the company.
Spectacular moments follow one another: one of the artists walks along a gigantic treadmill, while having to push aside other pedestrians, tables, chairs and even walls that he crosses. A pair of acrobats dressed as princesses walk sideways along a curtain that now surrounds the audience. And little by little a pool appears above the heads of the spectators.
It is a huge rectangular pool, with little water, but enough for four women to swim, jump, jump and move, in one of the most spectacular numbers of the show. The audience touches the resistant methacrylate with their hands, while some suffer because, with so many jumps and falls, the plastic does not end up giving way and we all end up soaked. But it doesn’t happen, everything is calculated to the millimeter and surprises happen. The fifteen artists and the legion of technicians have it in hand.
After 70 intense minutes, the DJ plays again and some take the opportunity to dance before leaving. Outside, a drink to soak up so much emotion and a family from Tortosa being photographed at the photocall. “We have found out from the networks,” says María. Her mother, Núria, explains that they were looking for something to celebrate the birthday of her father, Ramon, and the two boys, Josep and Aarón, and they decided to go to Barcelona to see this show: “I loved it. “Not you?” asks the young woman.
Rita, a middle-aged Barcelonan, offers another assessment: “I came for work and I really liked seeing it. It is a very visual show full of suggestive images. But with the music so loud, right now I feel like I came out of a nightclub in Ibiza in my youth.”
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