IL FAUX
Calixto Neto
In 2023, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting La Bâtie-Festival de Genève for the presentation of IL FAUX by Calixto Neto.
Starting with the initial premise that a black body is by its very nature exposed to the danger of expropriation, or that of being stolen from itself, Calixto Neto tries to resist against exterior control and the risk of annihilation. In this exercise in ventriloquism, the Brazilian choreographer searches for the words with which to write dance. Placing himself between spoliation and fictionalization, he looks into words as a means of expression and into language as means of consolation, with no guarantee of managing to do so.
Photo: © Benjamin Boar
About the artists
Calixto Neto
Originally from Recife, Brazil, Calixto Neto has been living in France since 2013. He studied theater at the Federal University of Pernambuco and then dance at the Groupe Experimental de Danse in his hometown. Subsequently, he pursued the Exerce master’s degree in choreography at the National Choreographic Center (CCN) of Montpellier. During his course studies, he created the solo piece petites explosions as well as the duet Pipoca, with Bruno Freire. His second solo piece, oh! rage, highlights minority bodies and identities, and investigates “peripheral” dances that are developed on the margins of institutional frameworks. A member of Lia Rodrigues’ company from 2007 to 2013, Calixto Neto also performed in creations by Volmir Cordeiro, Anne Collod, and Mette Ingvartsen. In 2020, as part of the Panorama festival at the Centre national de la danse (CND) in Pantin, Neto reprised Luiz de Abreu’s famous solo piece, O Samba do Crioulo Doido.
Photo: © Carolina Oliveira