Artistic residency in September 2026
Open rehearsal on September 24 at 7:00 PM
Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo
Showcase presented as part of Corpi in Ascolto 2026
click here for more info and ticket
Starting from Nicolas Poussin’s famous painting (1638), now held at the Louvre, ET IN ARCADIA EGO transforms the canvas into a living scenic device. If in the painting four figures contemplate a tomb inscription, on stage four artists interrogate the painting itself, reactivating its tension between utopia and death in a present marked by militarization, algorithmic surveillance, and new forms of remote violence. Through this process, spaces emerge that are haunted simultaneously by historical memory and ongoing crisis, positioning the work as a site where suppressed and urgent narratives surface, and where the persistence of utopian desire is confronted with the realities that threaten it.
During the residency period in Rome, Arkadi Zaides and Igor Dobričić will be present to develop their own contribution to this multifaceted work in progress.
Choreography and direction: Arkadi Zaides
Dramaturgy: Igor Dobričić
Artists/performers: Igor Dobričić, Olivier Marboeuf, Lázara Rosell Albear, Arkadi Zaides
Visuals and video game development: Victor Morales
Technical direction: Etienne Exbrayat
Stage, video and sound direction: Stéphane Leclercq
Creative production: Simge Gücük
Administration: Institut des Croisements
Executive production: laGeste
International distribution: Johannes Maile / partner in crime
Co-production: Agora, cité internationale de la danse (FR), Charleroi Danse (BE), Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm (DE), La Place de la Danse CDCN Toulouse Occitanie as part of accueil-studio (FR), STUK (BE), Orbita|Spellbound Centro di Produzione Nazionale per la Danza (IT) Research residency: La Vignette, scène conventionnée, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier (FR)
Arkadi Zaides is an associate artist at Agora, Cité Internationale de la Danse in Montpellier. For this creation, Arkadi Zaides is hosted at Agora, Cité Internationale de la Danse with the support of the Fondation BNP Paribas. Institut des Croisements is supported by the DRAC Occitanie and the Région Occitanie.
Arkadi Zaides is a choreographer, performer, and researcher. Born in Belarus, he currently resides in France. He danced with various companies in Israel, including the Batsheva Dance Company and the Yasmeen Godder Dance Group, before launching his independent career in 2004. He holds a master’s degree from the AHK Academy of Theatre and Dance in Amsterdam, a PhD in Arts (Dance) from the University of Antwerp, and a PhD in Arts (Dramaturgy) from Ghent University, where he is also a guest professor. From 2024 to 2027 he is an associate artist at Agora – Cité Internationale de la Danse in Montpellier. His performances and installations have been presented in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. He has received several awards, including the Emile Zola Prize for Performing Arts for his commitment to human rights in his work ARCHIVE (2014). Among other projects, he co-curated Violence of Inscriptions (2015–2018) together with scholar, curator, and dramaturg Sandra Noeth. This initiative brought together artists, thinkers, and human rights activists to explore the role of the body in producing, maintaining, legitimizing, representing, and aestheticizing structural violence.