The painter Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) is considered one of the most dazzling artistic personalities of her time. Now her extraordinary life is being told as a dance spectacle at the Semperoper—by the Enrique Gasa Valga Dance Company. At the premiere, the dancers, musicians, and singer Greta Marcolongo wowed the audience—in keeping with the show’s title: “Viva la Vida”—“Long Live Life.” At the end of the evening, the audience rose to their feet in the auditorium and cheered the entire ensemble and its soloists.
Live music and vocals
Valga brings Kahlo’s life to life in six scenes —from her childhood and her serious accident, through her love and marriage to the painter Diego Rivera and her trip to Paris, to her own affairs, her bouts of depression, her time in New York, and her return to Mexico. She died there on July 13, 1954, at the age of only 47. The fact that the music and singing—featuring many songs from Latin America—are performed live makes the production a special experience and a total work of art.
The show “Viva la Vida—A Tribute to Frida Kahlo” can be seen almost daily at the Semperoper through July 26. While the theater’s resident ensemble is on hiatus, the production is being presented by the production company Limelight Live Entertainment and Enrique Gasa Valga’s dance company.
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