WOLVES AT DAWN by Julio Cesar Iglesias Ungo

Expulsion from Paradise…?

World Premiere on 5 July 2025 at the Alte Schauspielhaus Wuppertal – Pina Bausch Zentrum (under construction)

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Seen by Klaus Dilger

Are they fallen angels watching over a laboratory of human experimentation – a place where our species is to be re-bred, perhaps even reinvented? This is one of the lasting images left by WOLVES AT DAWN, the latest work by Julio Cesar Iglesias Ungo, which premiered in the unique atmosphere of the “Pina Bausch Zentrum – under construction” and within its limited technical capabilities.

In collaboration with nineteen graduates of the ArtEZ Dance Bachelor Programme in Arnhem, Ungo has created a dystopian tableau, though one softened by theatrical wit and a touch of self-irony. The infectious energy of the young performers is palpable – their joy, physical expressiveness, and individual artistic voices bring vitality to the piece. It is precisely this lack of choreographic uniformity – this deliberate emphasis on difference – that gives the evening its particular charm. And yet, therein lies a challenge.

Wolves-at-Dawn_Julio-Iglesias-Ungo©TANZweb.org_Klaus-Dilger

Ritual Images, Striking Contrasts

From the very start, the audience is drawn into a symbolic world: a man and a woman stand facing each other, “naked”, connected only by a gleaming red apple gripped between their mouths – a powerful image echoing the myth of the Fall. Behind them, in dim light, other bodies lie scattered – “naked”, motionless, anonymous, abandoned.

Three performers – including the charismatic MACA (Alexis Fernández Ferrera), as well as Javier Alejandro Aguilera Plana and Maikel Pons Barzagas of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba – move slowly through the space in dark overalls, almost like scientists, almost like guards. Their Cuban(?) live vocals dominate the scene, providing a clear cultural counterpoint to the mute mass of bodies, which begins to stir, first hesitantly, then eruptively.

But this brief revolt soon dissipates. The dancers don white overalls – an act of anonymisation whose meaning remains elusive. A phase of rhythmic, synchronised movement follows, a fleeting breath of collectivity. Yet even this fragile order quickly disintegrates. The bodies arrange themselves like saplings, kneeling in silent contemplation. As MACA weaves through the rows, speaking and gesticulating in Spanish, most in the audience likely understand only the gestures, if not the words. Red apples are distributed from brown baskets – ceremonially, individually. A final temptation? A ritual preparation for a new, collective “fall from grace”?

Wolves-at-Dawn_Julio-Iglesias-Ungo©TANZweb.org_Klaus-Dilger

Disintegration, Narrative, Earth

A sudden shift: everything is bathed in red – the colour of passion, of fire, perhaps of hell. The group formation collapses, the performers drift chaotically. Eventually, only two remain on stage.

A spotlight opens a space for storytelling: in rapid succession, the dancers recount, perform, and remix fragments of real or imagined events, blending memory and fantasy. The piece reaches a new dramatic turning point.

What follows is a dark epilogue. Under muted grey light, some performers carry black soil across the stage, covering the still bodies as if in a symbolic burial. Wooden flowers are placed. The opening couple reappears – lost, uncertain. Their touch is tender, but devoid of sensuality. The man paints a hesitant “us” on the woman’s back in red. She draws green symbols on his body, blows into a toy windmill which begins to spin; he toys with paint and a plastic sandbox spade. The light fades.

Between Departure and Rawness

WOLVES AT DAWN is a work full of striking images and sensory contrasts – navigating between elevation and simplicity, ritual and chaos. It thrives on the vitality of its young performers, their presence, openness, and willingness to experiment. This energy makes up for much of what remains dramaturgically unfinished – for example, a midsection where movement and meaning lose cohesion, or transitions that feel either too abrupt or too arbitrary.

Yet it is precisely this rawness that gives the piece its appeal: it feels like a collective investigation, a physical attempt to wrest meaning from the present moment. It is as much a search as it is a statement, as much performance as it is provocation. Not everything succeeds – but this is not so much a flaw as a reflection of an open artistic process, one that is particularly valuable in an educational context.

In the end: heartfelt applause for all involved – and an evening that reveals the great potential in this kind of collaboration. One wishes the piece – and its performers – more time and space to grow.