Three bodies on stage, confronting each other’s tongue; mother tongue. They are in a state of constant translation; until words are not enough, until movement, music, memories are not enough.
Wall of Babel is a multilingual piece interrogating concepts of identity, language, and translation. The fragmented narrative of the performance, taking the structure of the human cycle, revolves around the characters growth and their attempts for communication. The audience does not always understand what the three bodies say, but it is present throughout.
From children playing hide and seek; to teenagers seeing their bodies change; to adults going to war – RATATATTATATATA – BOOOOOM; and then becoming elderly. The performance captures the challenges, humour and beauty of multilingual communication, venturing into non-verbal expression through movement and imagery.
Writer & Director: Nefeli Kentoni
Performers & Devisers: Santi Guillamon, Pablo Temboury, Fatima Rodriguez, Kenny Lai, Nefeli Kentoni & Ludovica Tagariello
Music Composition: Manos Stratis
Live Musicians: Manos Stratis, Elana Sasson & Will Scott
'The piece is densely layered, so much so that as I write, I continue to find more tidbits and clever details buried within the performance. The childlike innocence and naivety of the personas onstage easily carried me through the emotional journey of this work.' - Liam Woodvine
'A rare – if not unique – credit in contemporary dance!' - Graham Watts
'There were moments in Nefeli Kentoni’s Wall of Babel where I laughed out loud. Combining set and lighting in that ubiquitous pre-PowerPoint artefact, the Overhead Projector, was an inventive stroke of genius that underpinned another thoughtful piece about.' - Graham Watts