Che il deserto consola

"Now all around, ruin envelops the place where you sit, O gentle flower, and as if mourning the harm done to others, you send to the heavens a fragrance of sweetest scent, that consoles the desert."
— The Broom (La Ginestra), Giacomo Leopardi

 

Che il deserto consola is a performance for a dancer and a cellist, set to an original electroacoustic composition inspired by La Ginestra by Giacomo Leopardi.

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The desert may seem lifeless, but suddenly the eye catches the bright yellow of broom shrubs—flowers that console humanity and reassure us that the desert will not have the final word.
From this awareness, our research began, leading us to the conviction that recognising our own fragility and limits is necessary in order to transcend them.

The broom is aware of its condition; it does not indulge in illusions or dream of other realities, yet it continues to bloom. It gives of itself fully, and its scent makes even the desert bearable—if only for the time it takes to cross it.

 

This performance aims to be a celebration of the strength and resilience embodied by the broom—a fragile flower, yet so resistant that it is used to make ropes.

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Far from the common image of a pessimistic Leopardi, we wish instead to highlight the trust the poet placed in life, offering a contemporary interpretation of his vision.

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A symbol of rebirth, this small yellow flower becomes an invitation to rediscover within ourselves the ability to bloom again, to rise from the "ruins," from both external and inner deserts.

Che il deserto consolais an invitation to embrace ourselves in our wholeness—our strength and fragility, our light and shadow.
It is an invitation to understand and share our uniqueness, not to deprive the world of it.
It is an invitation to be bearers of beauty—as something that adds, not subtracts.
It is an invitation to release our fragrance, even when all around us seems like desert.
It is an invitation to live our lives fully.
Just like the broom does.