Pre-pandemic, I used to see 20+ dance shows per season. I cannot wait to witness again the magic of storytelling through movement! In honor of International Dance Day 2021, I’d like to tell you about two shows that stayed with me for years: Pink Unicorns and Oskara.
Pink Unicorns by La Macana
I bought the ticket because of the title. I did not read the program. Pre-start, two very handsome men in very tight and tiny shorts were running the length of the front row back and forth. Oh, I so can watch this for an hour, I thought.
Turns out, two very handsome men – spoiler alert – are father and son Alexis and Paulo Fernández. This show triggered me like an explosive gender reveal party, boom! But in a good way. Like being healed, with dynamite. In my chakras.
Pink Unicorns is not shy about dealing with intergenerational masculinity and all its perverse, toxic knowhow. How do boys learn and share: violence, compassion, decision-making, (auto) eroticism, stigma, hierarchies of power, definitions and parameters of success, tying shoelaces, you name it. It is also a poignant exploration of the evolution of parental dynamics. The nurture, the rebellion, the painful growths in pursuit of mutual admiration, the love. I have not laughed, cried, giggled, sobbed and otherwise emotionally wrecked myself within a short evening since I first tried marijuana in college. Now I was sober and grateful to experience this. It made me re-think my relationship with my father; everything it was and (mostly) was not. Alexis and Paulo touched each other more in 60 minutes on stage than my dad and I in my 40 years “here”. Still, I made sure to phone him after just to register presence. Some connections are destined/doomed to remain intangible. Despite its cathartic effect on me, the show is fit for all. Whimsical, extraordinarily physical, it’s truly great theater.
This month, the show celebrated 50 international engagements. Wow, with a pandemic in the middle! I would love to see it again (and for many-many audiences to ogle at those tiny shorts) so here’s to 50+ more shows. Follow La Macana on Facebook. Ask your local performance venues to book them. Enjoy the show, call your parents.
Pink Unicorns is co-created by Alexis and Paulo Fernández with Caterina Varela and Samir Akika. I (first) saw it at Espacio Inestable in Valencia in 2019. Story image credits @la.macana except first picture from @acuerpodebaile
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