At Castel Sant’Angelo the ‘Eros’ of the Bernal-Albrecht couple

As part of the review ‘under the Angel of Castello: dance, music, show’ staged on 28 August in Rome in the Cortile di Alessandro VI inside Castel Sant ‘Angelo,’ Eros’ starring the flamenco dancer Sergio Bernal alongside the actress Eleonora Albrecht, the musicians Giulio Plotino and Augusta Giraldi. “Eros. Who was he? – we read in the hall notes of the show – For the Greeks he was a divinity personifying human love. According to the Orphic Mysteries he was a god of the origins, son of the Night (Nyx), born from an egg and with sparkling golden wings (Aristophanes). The following myths give us Eros as the son of Aphrodite and Ares. Apuleius will make him the co-protagonist of the greatest love story of all time, with the young Psyche, who becomes his wife to pact to meet him only in the darkness of the night. When, overcome by curiosity, she tries to see the god, he will fly away. Since Eros is desire, it is the life force that holds together different elements in the human psyche where he resides – continues the note – surrounded by mystery. If you discover it completely, it ceases to exist. ” Curated by Daniele Cipriani, the show explores the theme of Eros in all its nuances and its multiple languages, through dance, but also music and love poetry. Magnetic and feline, Sergio Bernal is the absolute representation of Eros. Gifted by Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, with a perfectly proportioned body, Bernal blends flamenco and classical ballet in an exciting crescendo. On the program some iconic pieces of the Madrid bailaor, including ‘Il Cigno’ with music by Saint Saëns alongside two of his creations including Zapateado in which he will wear a dress created expressly by the stylist Roberto Capucci. He will alternate lightness and angelic gentleness with the physicality of his zapateados, also dancing to the notes of the violin that will vibrate under the arch of Giulio Plotino, a musician with an international career, and the harp of Augusta Giraldi. In addition to accompanying Bernal’s dances, the two musicians will interpret selected pages and pieces by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Claude Debussy, Jules Massenet, Niccolò Paganini, Camille Saint-Säens, Pablo de Sarasate. On stage the actress Eleonora Albrecht will play the role of Aphrodite and will recite verses by Gaius Valerio Catullo, Alda Merini, Jacques Prévert, and Sappho, extracted from the Song of Songs of Solomon