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“Just a Bit”: the digital world as a nostalgic dimension in which to find oneself.

The city of Cali gave a warm welcom to Maria Costanza Solarte Burbano (Colombia) and Leonardo Venturi (Italy), who during their residency in Colombia visited museums and historic local places, such as the typographic printing company La Linterna, and participated in several performances and events, including the 28A Por la Paz del Cauca commemorative concert in Puerto Resistencia.

They were hosted by Teatro La Concha in whose spaces, supported by tutor Chiara Murru, they were able to collect materials, design the graphic elements and define the structure of their project Just a Bit, an interdisciplinary performative investigation that explores the nature of trauma and its individual and collective memory. Underlying this work-in-progress is the notion that traumatic experiences, generally identified as something negative, leave a real and physical imprint on our bodies, moreover constantly defined in a binary system, and that dance can act as a beneficial and healing element bringing them back to a state of reconnection with themselves. To do this, it is necessary to lead the audience into a genderless transitional space, a technological universe inspired by the aesthetics of pixel art, 8-bit video games and early 90s dance floors, so that they participate in a collective immersive play experience that helps them untangle their emotional backgrounds. The role of storytellers is thus entrusted to two small inhabitants of this world, two bits exhausted by their own lives, who accompany the audience through a circuit of interactive stations, where they can connect with their own personal story related to trauma and make use of some tools to recalibrate themselves by crafting.

A first presentation of the work was held at the Casa Naranja Theater, in front of an audience of young people and children with whom the artists engaged with and gained new insights. The project was then presented in short form on April 30th at Teatro Municipal Enrique Buenaventura, marking the opening of the Festival Brujula al Sur.