What if Virginia had not stolen Antonio’s car? Or, what if Julio had not gone to the bathroom to buy cigarettes? What if…
In this work Chamecki and Lerner recount the story of Antonio, who “while walking in the boardwalk, he falls in a hole and dies”. The piece revolves around the different courses his life could have taken. The “what ifs” of everyone’s destiny that remind us of the ambivalence of our power against life/death.
Antonio Caido… is the finest composition these women from Brazil have yet made – a collage in which scraps of information gradually build formal and emotional tension… The work beautifully, poignantly, angrily exposes the myriad death we suffer when someone we love suddenly falls our of the world. Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice, ‘97
Seldom is a dance at once as enigmatic and crystal clear as “Antonio Caido” is. Movement so satisfying in itself for qualities of line, dynamics, use of energy and structure – rarely occurs in a dramatic context so well defined. The story is wrenching and painful; the telling is elegant and terse. Cerinda Survant, The Oregonian, ‘97
“Antonio Caido” lives up to its considerable ambition in its flowing stream of prickly incidents and seamless integration of light, sound, movement and film. Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times, ‘97
ChameckiLerner proffer visceral images of their misfortunes and loss by inventing full-bodied gestures and unpredictable interactions. They physicalize the anxiety, helplessness, rage and passion evoked by Antonio’s death in a way that is both particular and universal. They force viewers to consider that any one could find him or herself in a similarly wrenching predicament. Kelly Hardgraves, Dance Online, ‘97
A turmoil of metaphoric images, perceived with poetry and humor. Antonio Caido manages, at the same time, to be beautiful and conceptual, without being narrative. The images suggest a deep movement investigation along with a coherent use of their scenic possibilities. Michele Borges da Costa, O Tempo, (Portugal), November,’96