Directed by choreographer Maria Pagés and playwright El Arbi El Harti, De Scheherezade is a vitalist flamenco choreography that explores humanity’s enduring propensity for violence. In eleven scenes, it presents a humanist journey that traces the creative threads of life woven into the feminine essence.

The piece is a powerful narrative built through solos and ensemble choreographies, tightly interlaced by a dramaturgy, choreographic structure, lyrics, and music — meticulously crafted like the Atlas artisans spinning their carpets.

The work’s deeply theatrical conception balances the singularity of each performer with the collective energy of the ensemble. Scheherezade, an archetypal woman who represents all women, travels through choreographic time, reclaiming the spoken word as a tool for redeeming humanity from its cyclical violence.

She reveals to the audience her knowledge and contradictions, her loves and aversions, her strength, vulnerabilities, insecurities, satisfactions, and solitude. She reclaims her humanity — with humility, honesty, and respect. Nothing human is foreign to her.

Scheherezade shares her connection to the body, motherhood, family, land, identity, and the long struggle for equality — with her soul laid bare. She speaks of the light and shadows of contemporary life, invoking both ancient and modern mythologies. Running through the lifeblood of this organic work are the ideas and aspirations of Medea, Zaynab Nefzaouia, Sappho, Hathor, Athena, Saramago’s Blimunda, Lorca’s Bernarda Alba, and Garcia Márquez’s Úrsula.

The choreographies celebrate a collective of women who take center stage to claim both space and voice. Eleven strong individuals embody a plurality of femininity, transcending physical, ethnic, religious, cultural, and aesthetic differences.