- A fantastic fusion of dance, theatre, design and imagination; featuring a collaboration with Chinese actor Wu Xiaodong.
Date: May 15, 19:30
Venue: Drama Theatre-NCPA
Choreographer: Marcia Barcellos
Featured Actor: Wu Xiaodong
Manuel of Marvels is an invitation to look into some of the literary mysteries using the method of Russian ethnographer and folklorist Vladimir Propp (The Morphology of the Fairy Tale, 1928). This method explores the thirty-one functions that are repeated in fairy tales of all world nations. This production of Manuel of Marvels is an exciting collaboration; Chinese Actor Wu Xiao Dong travelled to France to rehearse with Système Castafiore and will be performing with the company.
“Playing while rethinking the world, this could the motto of Marcia Barcellos and Karl Biscuit, the two live wires behind System Castafiore company. In the tradition of France’s best contemporary choreographers， don’t expect idle time, but rather absurdity and abundance.” Davis S Trans, Le Progrès.
Marcia Barcellos and Karl Biscuit
Marcia and Karl Biscuit were students of Alwyn Nikolaïs, with artistic sensibilities close to the Tuxuedomoon company in California, they first emerged onto the young French dance scene with the Lolita Performance Cooperation.
Orienting their artistic research on how meaning is created, they work on open-ended multi-disciplinary projects where the interactive combination of dance, music and the plastic arts aspire to change through laughter.
Wu Xiaodong
After graduating from the Central Academy of Drama with a major in directing, Wu Xiaodong began his career in 1992 as a comedian and director at the National Theatre of China. Wu Xiadong has played a variety of roles not only on the theatre stage, but also on TV and film. He has also directed TV shows including Stay in Beijing，Friends and so forth. In winter 2010, through support from the French Embassy, Wu XiaoDong traveled to France to work with Système Castafiore and is performing in the Chinese production Manuel of Marvels.
Système Castafiore （France）
The company Système Castafiore has no other equivalent on the French performing art scene. Featuring dancing, sophisticated images, and sound installations, Système Castafiore’s artistic work is just like the foolishness of our world. The artistic approach of Système Castafiore, enriched with its manifold savoir-faire, creates a playful atmosphere, full of imagination. Marcia Barcellos, choreographer, and Karl Biscuit, director, jointly manage this very creative artistic group.
With intelligence and a true sense of entertainment, Système Castafiore brought a fresh, rich, open-ended content to the contemporary dance scene. Unlike other artists, who match serious content with serious form, Système Castafiore explore our contemporary world with a twinkle in their eye. “Enlightenment Through Entertainment” could be their motto.
Manuel of Marvels is presented as part of Festival Croisements
