The stage of the Gallus Hall in the Cankarjev dom arts centre will host Mad Tristan, a canvas of the Spanish artist Salvador Dalí. The work measures 15 by 9 metres and will serve as a backdrop to the La Verità stage spectacle.

We’ve caught the artists of the Compagnia Finzi Pasca group at a rehearsal for tonight’s first performance of the week-long guest appearance in Ljubljana. La Verità (The Truth) is a theatrical performance with extraordinary acrobatic figures inspired by surrealist poetics. Thirteen brilliant actors gather before the original theatre canvas painted by Dalí to explore dreams and ideas of the supernatural.

The Spanish artist painted the massive theatre canvas in 1944 as theatrical scenery for a ballet called Mad Tristan. He worked with choreographer Leonid Massin (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo) several times, and Mad Tristan (originally Tristan Fou) was their third collective artistic work. Dalí wrote a libretto for the ballet as well as designed costumes and the scenery in the form of gigantic painted canvases or stage curtains. The ballet premiered on 15 December in New York’s International Theatre.

The art piece misplaced for decades in a props storage room
The priceless piece of art was found decades later in a props storage room at Metropolitan Opera House in New York. The work was bought by a private European art collection, which decided not to display it in a museum but offered it to the Switzerland-based Compagnia Finzi Pasca. This was certainly a great honour and exceptional recognition of the company’s artistic creation, the Cankarjev dom arts centre wrote on its website.

Lighting one of the key features of the production
The artistic circus Compagnia Finzi Pasca was founded in 2011 through a merger of Inlevitas in Teatre Sunil, bringing together excellent artists. Its director, Daniele Finzi Pasca, made a guest appearance in Slovenia a few years ago with his productions of Nomad and Fog/Nebbia (Cirque Èloize). He also created and directed the closing ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin. On his second visit to Slovenia, he’s presenting this unique artistic project boasting a theatre technique based on invisible gestures, the play of shadows and exquisite lighting.