Death in Venice

The work

Beauty and desire in the face of decline

This stage adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novel was Guillem Clua’s first collaboration with Víctor Rodrigo’s dance company Vincles and his first piece of dramaturgy for a dance performance. Under the direction of Mingo Ràfols, the author helped create a dramaturgy that blended theatrical and choreographic elements, resulting in an original proposal based on Gustav von Aschenbach’s final days.

To achieve this, the story was made timeless, concepts and characters were changed, and it focused on the deeply contemporary difficulty of accepting one’s own decline: that of the protagonist, but also that of all of us and of our society, which often looks away from its own degradation while punishing those who seek beauty. Adapted for the screen by Italian director Luchino Visconti, Death in Venice (1971) focuses on the crisis of the artist Gustav von Aschenbach, who, in his search for beauty, encounters the young Tadzio and turns him into an object of worship, ultimately allowing himself to be drawn towards his own destruction.

In 2008, Vincles once again commissioned Guillem Clua to write for its performance No: a classical suite of choreographed musical numbers built around the concept of denial. Social rules, work obligations, family commitments, the stresses of everyday life… The performance became a rebellious hymn against all the aspects of daily life that oppress us, reconnecting with the emotion and energy characteristic of Víctor Rodrigo’s company. No was an invitation to live, laugh and dance that closes the trilogy begun with Amo amor and Vincles and, as before, brings dance closer to audiences of all ages, involving them in this optimistic celebration of life.