“DOWN” is a choreographic creation for a drum set and a dancing body. A performative and explosive concert, an attempt to respond to the collective down. A moment of descent after ecstasy, a wave of depression, the sensation of the body letting go, the spirit becoming detached: that’s the down. Mélissa Guex explores fatigue, physical exhaustion and how movement can activate concentration and mental well-being. She experiments with the rhythm of the descent, the music of the ascent, the body freezing or following a drum of emotions, giving birth to a duet with bright colours and festive costumes, a Saba dance – a ritual healing dance – to be consumed like a drug to get back up. Inspired by ecstatic ritual dances and club culture and conceived as a modular format, “DOWN” evolves, transforms and takes root in the territories it explores, feeding on past journeys and nourishing future ones. In Santarcangelo, Mélissa will create a site-specific version for Piazza Ganganelli; the performance will make its official debut in March 2024 at the Théâtre Sévelin 36 in Lausanne.