Explosive dance, emotional text and driving live music merge into a poetic dance concert.

Inspired by the consolatory cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, choreographer Patricia van Deutekom brings with La Despedida a contemporary requiem with solid autobiographical overtones. La despedida -literal meaning: the moment of saying goodbye- is in everything that exists. Situations where saying goodbye plays a role are innumerable. The goodbye of the day, a journey that comes to an end, a stage of life that is suddenly no more, loved ones who disappear and the abandonment of desires, hopes and dreams.

La Despedida is a search for the basis, the story and the power behind grief and the action and reaction of saying goodbye. A thoughtful performance in which inner emotions fiercely housekeep and love triumphs. A physical and musical explosion, but also a realistic representation of vulnerability in the various stages of saying goodbye. About the finite and infinite. About winning and losing, saving and being distraught, carrying and being carried. About the power of the spirit that takes over when the body gives up. About light, love and letting go. A new beginning.