Dance Spain 2023

The Very Last Northern White Rhino

New York Times reporter Sam Anderson spent a week in Kenya with two female white rhinos, mother and daughter, who are the last of their kind. With her death, her species will be de facto extinct. Anderson describes the day-to-day lives of Fatu and Naijn, grazing under the sun, serenely awaiting their fate. The two animals stand for life for the sake of life alone.
With "The Very Last Northern White Rhino" the choreographer Gaston Core shows his perception of the animals, which appear to him as a fragile creation despite their enormous size. Their bodies are irreplaceable, like the exhibits in a living museum. Knowing that their extinction is imminent, the two animals appear unbearably human. They confront us with our own destiny. The fact that they still exist and their bodies take up space makes them symbols of an entire species. And so the analogy continues, and a single human on stage - the dancer Oulouy - becomes the symbol of the creature itself.
In the face of what lies ahead, can peace be found amidst the chaos? Gaston Core searches for a dance language whose dynamics and forms capture the heart of the question. In the aesthetics of urban dance, with elements of hip-hop, krump, finger tutting and dances with strong African influences such as coupé decalé, he and his dancer Oulouy devote themselves to transience. He celebrates dance as excess, as a festival that comes from life. Dance to the point of exhaustion, to the end.

Concept and direction: Gaston Core | Choreography: Gaston Core in collaboration with the dancer | Listed by: Oulouy | Collaboration: Aina Alegre | Photo & Video: Alice Brazzit | Music: Jorge da Rocha | Light: Ivan Cascon | Styling: Eva Bernal | Technical support: Manu Ordenavia | Production: Mayte Luque | Co-produced by Sala Hiroshima & Festival GREC of Barcelona with the support of Center | Civic Barceloneta.