Opening Plou prou? with Poetic dance performance

Rain —or its absence— has been a central theme in all human cultures since ancient times. The desire to influence this natural phenomenon has given rise to countless rites which, although they have not succeeded in making water fall from the sky, constitute a remarkable cultural and sociological phenomenon. Rites function as instruments of social cohesion and, in the case of rain, as a way of collectively managing the inability to control a phenomenon so vital to human subsistence.

The combination of the importance of rain and our inability to control it generates a condition of vulnerability that contrasts with the prevailing anthropocentrism in which human beings shape the cosmos according to their will. In this sense, rain —or its absence— offers an opportunity to approach our vulnerability as a species and to rethink our place within the ecosystem we inhabit.

This shift in position, from action —intervening and modifying at will— to waiting —awaiting a destiny—, is the poetic material with which we wish to work. We imagine four performers entering the space completely soaked. They sing and move through the space, crossing through the audience and leaving a trail of water behind them. Their voices become waves that strike stone and flesh, and their song a constant dripping that impenitently soaks everything that comes near.

The singers surround the audience and move through the space, transforming the acoustic and visual perception of the environment. Like rain, movement and song alter our notion of time and transform us in a subtle yet profound way. The performers turn sound into scenic and choreographic material: their voice becomes a dance that is heard, and their bodies a song that is seen.

Once the inaugural performance has ended, the performers’ voices will be recorded and mixed in order to create an original composition to accompany the exhibition. Through speakers strategically distributed throughout the space, the songs will be played for as long as the exhibition space remains open, offering an immersive and evocative soundscape. Like rain, these voices, now without bodies, will be an ephemeral record of the passage of time.

The Catalan–Balearic duo Aurora Bauzà and Pere Jou will perform a contemporary invocation of rain, lasting around 25 minutes, to open the installation.