Cast: Grégoire Vissého, Jacques Amégnonvo Kpade, Pascal Houssou Adjinako, Ewa (Justin Tohinnou)
An animator learns to dance by observing and imitating animals. We will see animals, men, women and children dance. The world of Benin beliefs is full of gorgeously colorful phantoms and ghosts. The opulent fauna of Benin witnesses the joys and exaltations of man. Man conveys all feelings of satisfaction through song, rhythm and dance. The performance is a mirror of sorts for us all, since animals represent human features; besides the man-animal relations give the audience food for thought.
The performance consists of 10 pictures.
There are three artists in the Ditout theatre group. The head of the team, Grégoire Vissého, is a puppeteer and composer, Jacques Amégnonvo Kpade - a puppeteer, and Pascal Houssou Adjinako - a drummer-accompanist. All three of them are in a way messengers. They act in order to educate and to sensitize the audience to what is going on around them.
Grégoire Vissého was brought up in a family of charlatans and sculptors. Thanks to his grandfather he knows the properties of herbs and can cure poisoning. He came across puppets in Ghana for the first time. Later, he trained with Danaye, who taught him the secrets of animation. He treats their marionettes as though they were alive. Once a year, shortly after New Year, he organizes a feast for them. He also mastered a number of magic tricks: he eats glass, razor blades, metal or fire. He can light fire on stage without any props. Also, he puts fire to his body without getting burnt. His artistic creations first appear in dreams and only then take actual shapes.
Ditout has been extremely popular in Central Africa ever since the group was established in 1987. They are equally successful with children and adult audience. It is hard to believe that such common materials used in everyday life as bottle gourd, corn cobs, coco nuts, sisal or raffia may turn into mysterious magical creatures on stage. The world of objects among which we live comes to life.
Performances: Saturday, 26 VI 2004, 21.45 (Plac przed Teatrem Dramatycznym), Sunday, 27 VI 2004, 19.30 (Rynek Ko¶ciuszki)
Presentations: Friday, 25 VI 2004, 19.30; Saturday, 26 VI 2004, 13.00 i 19.30; Sunday, 27 VI 2004, 13.00 (Rynek Ko¶ciuszki)