In his thirties, with clear ideas, calmness, and self-confidence, Marcos Morau founded the artistic collective La Veronal in Barcelona ten years ago. The name is a tribute to Virginia Woolf, as Veronal is the name of the antidepressant that the great British writer used in several suicide attempts. This multidisciplinary collective blends contemporary arts—Morau himself has an eclectic background in dance, theater, and photography—and has made a mark on the European choreography scene with projects where dance takes center stage. These ‘geographical’ projects are aesthetic-philosophical approaches to places, resulting in successful titles such as Siena, Russia, Reykjavik, and Iceland.
Having been invited to choreograph for other ensembles, Morau recently created Edward for the Norwegian company Carte Blanche, inspired by the painter Munch, and Marbre for the Alsatian Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin. He is now focused on a new project for his company, coproduced by major institutions and festivals, including the Théâtre de Chaillot, the Tanz im August Berlin festival, and the Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona.
Leaving behind the mapping of the globe's surface, Morau is now delving into the hidden geography of the earth and the metaphor of evil and the darkness of hell. Voronia, the title chosen for the new work, is named after the deepest cavity in our planet: the Krubera-Voronia Cave located in the western Caucasus. Like Dante in the Inferno, Morau revisits the theme of eternal descent, invoking St. Augustine's thoughts on humanity's moral responsibility (“The moral parameters of good and evil exist only in relation to the actions of life; evil, consequently, can only be reached by human beings”) and the controlling power of religion over morality, as well as the massacres perpetrated in the name of a god.
The work, Morau promises, will be an “explosive encounter of dance, text, and images that will stimulate viewers to form their own interpretations, as the audience will be compelled to decipher the codes and images presented. They will be forced to grapple with contrasts just like the eight dancers, voiceless bodies moving to go as far as possible, seeking the path of ascent toward an intelligible world.”
