Ckuri, village cleaners

"Long ago, on a mountain, there was a town of invisible beings that connected with each other through the cycles of nature. They are created at sunset, when the green ray is projected in the center of the horizon. These do not allow themselves to be seen, but from time to time they manifest themselves to carry out an energy cleansing of the towns and their inhabitants."

Under this premise, they come to GAM Ckuri, cleaners of towns, a street intervention by La Huella Teatro, which proposes a new look at public space. In an outdoor show, eight invisible beings called ckuri (spirit of the wind in ckunsa), will begin a journey that ends in a ritual of cleaning downtown Santiago and its spectators.

"The public will see magical beings with a strangeness of animal and human being, they will see the outposts of the solemn, they will see the sacred ritual where anthropology intersects with performing art, they will see rhythms and they will also be able to encounter the playful part of beings that at some point transform," comments its creator, Alejandra Rojas.

The tour begins in GAM (as a meeting point), but begins scenically in the Lastarria neighborhood, where the public will witness a journey as a new reading of time and a look at the street, the town square or the neighborhood.

This creation is the product of a stage residency by La Huella Teatro in San Pedro de Atacama (2021) and is part of a co-production of Identidades Festival.  The idea was to go into the desert to explore some codes of the Andean tradition, also incorporating oriental aesthetic elements. From there, they have been presented in China, Spain, in the highlands and in the Palacio de La Moneda in Chile.

"The show was born to reconnect us after the pandemic, reoccupy public spaces and return to the ritual, in addition to connecting with each territory visited by the Ckuri, village cleaners. It is a challenge to always encounter diverse audiences, on the street," concludes its director.

With twenty years of experience, La Huella Teatro has created productions in various aesthetic languages. Founded by Alejandra Rojas, an Antofagasta actress, its hallmark is the search for an identity theater, connected to the human and geographical landscape of northern Chile. At GAM he presented Allqu yana, because black dogs are better and today he returns with this bet for the general public.

Scenic creation and general direction: Alejandra Rojas Pinto | Assistant director and training actors: Valentina Escorza Cast: Mariana Barahona, Vanessa Bevilacqua, Verónica Torres, Valentina Escorza | Audiovisual director: Patricio Farias | Costume and object design: La Huella Teatro | Costume creation: Eliana Rojas | Co-production: Identidades Festival | Presenter:Escondida BHP