FROM REALITY TO DREAM

An inspiring picture

Inspiration sometimes arises from the most ordinary scenes, from fleeting moments stolen from reality.

Inspiration is sometimes born of the most trivial scenes, moments stolen from reality... like this photo taken by Marcelo Guardiola, in the heart of Paris.

Photo : Marcelo Guardiola

This is how the artists Giorgia Marchiori and Marcelo Guardiola found the soul of their new tableau, integrated into their show “Los Guardiola” at the last Avignon Off festival (July 2024), using the choreography previously created for the show “Tango Secret”.

A simple glance exchanged between a lost man and a mannequin frozen behind a shop window was enough to give birth to a set of haunting beauty.

In this story, a lonely homeless man falls in love with an unreachable figure, trapped behind glass and silence. But one night, the miracle happens: she comes to life, inviting him into an enchanting dance where time and misery fade away. For a brief moment, he is no longer a forgotten man but a lover, the prince in a fleeting dream.

Yet dreams are fragile, and this one is no exception…

It is this poetic tragedy, this struggle between illusion and reality, that Los Guardiola sought to bring to the stage. A dance where love is born from the impossible, flourishes in grace, and collapses into fate.

Here is the story that inspired their performance…

Photo : Philippe Dupouy

Love Beyond the Glass

He walked slowly, barefoot on the frozen pavement. His plastic bag flapped weakly against his back, his only shield against the relentless winter. His breath formed small white clouds that vanished instantly into the city’s indifference.

And then, like every night, he stopped in front of that shop window.

She was there. Motionless, perfect. Her mannequin body sculpted in an elegant pose, her black dress draped around her like a whisper of the wind. Her face was expressionless, but he saw something else. He saw tenderness in her painted lips, a promise in the curve of her neck.

He loved her.

For how many days? How many months? He no longer knew. But every night, when the city abandoned him to his loneliness, he came here, to see her. He spoke to her in a hushed voice, whispered secrets no one else would hear, and sometimes, he dreamed that she listened.

But that night, something was different.

Maybe it was the hunger gnawing at his soul.

Maybe it was the exhaustion weighing too heavily on him.

Maybe he was simply tired of waiting for a miracle.

So he closed his eyes and prayed. Not to a God he had long since forgotten, but to her.

“Come to me…”

Photo : Philippe Dupouy

When he opened his eyes, the night had frozen still. The city no longer existed. There was only him and her. And under his incredulous gaze, she moved.

First, a shiver. Then, a sigh. And finally, a step.

She stepped out of the window display as if the glass wasn’t there, gliding toward him with an ethereal grace. Her cold hands found his, and a spark of life rushed through his worn-out body.

Without a word, she led him into a dance.

The streets faded beneath their feet. They waltzed upon cobblestones of stars, twirled beneath a light from another world. He forgot the pain, the hunger, the cold. He was a man, a prince, a lover. She was his.

But the moment was fragile, suspended on the edge of a dream.

He felt her grip weaken. Her gaze, once alight with a newfound flame, was dimming. She trembled, stepped back, and panic seized him.

“No… stay with me!”

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t.

Already, she was retreating to the window. Already, her features were growing rigid again. He screamed, lunged for her, but his arms grasped only empty air.

He pounded against the glass, desperate. She was there, just inches away, yet infinitely out of reach. Her face was nothing more than a mask now, her eyes hollow, her body lifeless.

He sank to his knees. There were no more tears left to shed, no more strength to fight.

Only silence remained, and his own shattered reflection in the glass.

---

Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter (below) to stay informed about the next updates on this blog!