Choreographer, dancer, actor and singer, Carlos Casella is one of the protagonists of “Cervantes Magazine”one the theatrical events of the year that – with a fair and achieved tribute to the many times of the Buenos Aires magazine – has gathered 35 thousand spectators in 50 functions and 18 brand new nominations for the Hugo 2025 Awards.
There, in the María Guerrero, Casella and Alejandra Radano room embody the “comedy” and the “tragedy” as part of a two -phase eagle (inspired by a shield on the facade of the Cervantes) that seeks to protect the national theater and its cultural heritage from a “minor” genre. Objective that both will resign before the attempts of Tato Bores (Marco Antonio Caponi) and Enrique Pinti (Sebastián Suñé) for winning a place in heaven, in exchange for satisfying the curiosity of an angelized spirit (Monica Antonópulos) increasingly interested in the role of the vedette.
Member of remembered and avant -garde companies of the Under Porteño as of the guard and discovery, here Casella speaks of his work in this new experience with five authors and direction of Pablo Maritano, of his love for music and of a more personal side: Buddhism, which he practices more than 30 years ago.
News: Before “Cervantes Magazine”, what relationship did he have with gender? Did he see him in theater?
Carlos Casella: No, but at the same time I do not feel oblivious to the format, because, saving the distances, what we did in the discovery had some magazine. A language salad where very different numbers were happening: first a dance number after something super erotic with Mayra Bonard, then a monologue with Juan Minujín, then a musical number with me as a singer … and working with Alfredo Arias, we also combine different things. Although at first I dizzy, because reading a magazine’s book is not easy; I didn’t understand how they were going to paste a number with another.
News: And how did he?
Casella: I decided to wait for the essays and trust Gonzalo Demaría, the director of the theater, who in addition to calling me and having worked with him in other shows, wrote a book about Porteña magazine. I thought: “He who knows more, will understand that I can do it.”
News: What challenges did the work raise?
Casella: Apart from understanding the above, playing a character who speaks in verse, with rhyme, which has its secrets and techniques. Also, both my character and Alejandra’s are like a cell that sews the show a bit, which questions or represses, but without mixing much with the rest. In the essays, sometimes I was left wanting more, but I also understood that the work is not based on a single gag or sketch, but that there is a totality; And that sometimes it is necessary to contain yourself a little, not to gloat in its own rhythm, depending on the set. Because after one there are other sketches waiting for me to generate the energy and rhythm necessary so that later it makes the public laugh. It was like going on their way to walking.
News: In “The magazine …” also personifies a transvestite, something he also did in works with Arias. In this case, was your idea or the director?
Casella: They asked me during the essays. The character is real, is called Monsieur Bertin and came to Argentina around 1910. The texts rewrite them, but the music already existed.
News: Once he said that we all have some trans. How is that?
Casella: Of course, because we have all transition from one thing to another at some point.
News: Well, said, in general, I understand.
Casella: But speaking of the male, I would also say: What kind of woman did not enjoy the experience?
News: Do you think?
Casella: Well, some have the easiest path. I think it is an interesting exorcism.
News: Now he is also doing a boleros show.
Casella: Yes, “Bolerismo of the people.” I do it once a month for a year in a restaurant, the Santa Evita; And I spend great because I love singing …
News: In their concerts, love issues predominate. Is it romantic?
Casella: Yes, re romantic. But it also has to do with my dad listened to Roberto Carlos Nicola Di Bari, Nino Bravo. Although in “Bolerism …” I corrupt the genre singing other things. In fact, I start the show with “La Vie en Rose” and I also do a tango called “Nothing”, which I returned Boler. In addition, I was very timidly incorporating some own issues.
News: In his career, was the dance or music first?
Casella: I always entertained friends singing. And when I finished high school, since I had no intention of going to university, I threw myself with passion in a rock band.
News: And how did he get to dance?
Casella: By Ana Frenkel, who is my friend since children and a fundamental person in my life. She started studying dance and I, from Copion, followed her. Until I got on and we started creating things together with the body, which eventually resulted in the discourage.
News: Their concerts have a lot of bodily
Casella: Yes, because for me the axis is the body. I can’t sing without having an idea of what my body wants to do. In fact, Alfredo Arias sometimes tells me: “Today you were very dancer.”
News: How do you take with the passage of time?
Casella: In general, well. I feel some shake when the dialogue between the mind and the body becomes somewhat complicated. I want to continue doing everything I came doing so far, but I also understand that the body changes and one must adapt to those changes. As for the body and aesthetics, sometimes I get better and sometimes worse.
News: In 2020, for the premiere of “Fucking and Orchestra”, he made a naked photographic production. Now would I do it?
Casella: If you give me three months, yes (laughs). Look, for the pandemic streaming premiere, I was barbaric, because it had been training a lot -gymnasium, yoga -but then, when I did face -to -face, I was not always so well. So my vanity had to calm down a little. In addition, there I wanted to convey that the important thing is not to always be splendid, but that behind that nude there was also an idea.
News: But why did you decide to start that naked show and go dressed throughout it?
Casella: First, because I wanted to travel the reverse path to a previous show, “Babooshka! Women’s songs”, where I ended up not naked, but showing underwear. And then, because when putting the show as a title “Fucking and orchestra”, I also wanted to show myself as appropriate as possible.
News: In addition to doing yoga, he practices Buddhism from a young age.
Casella: Yes, I started by Ana Frenkel’s mother, who for me was like a spiritual mom. At first, I got hooked from a more playful place, for the sounds, and then I understood that behind the sound and the ritual, there was a whole philosophy.
News: What does it contribute?
Casella: First, there is a work of spiritual depth, which interests me much beyond Buddhism. And Buddhism itself gives me a combination of reason and heart. The Buddhism of the Gakkai Soka, which is what I practice, believes in determination, but for me it is most beautiful that considers that all people have the same and unlimited potential to develop a state called Buddudity.
News: I read that at the beginning and at the end of the day he recites a mantra.
Casella: Yes, a phrase that says “Nam Myho Rege Kyo”, which means “my devotion to the mystical law of the cause and effect.”
News: And chance? What we don’t handle?
Casella: The morning phrase is focused on how you want the day to take place; Then obviously there are a lot of factors that exceed what a determines. Instead, the afternoon/night phrase is to thank what has elapsed; What is not easy, because in general we tend to think more about the deficit, what was not, what we lacked. But there is always something to thank. I would be very unfair if I don’t remember this talk with you today, because it was harmonious, friendly and enriching. And if, for example, something that happened to me in the day put me in a brete, I will thank you, because something good can also come out of a difficult situation. A wind against not always disarms you, you can also challenge me to cross it.
News: After a function of “the magazine …”, how do you do with the practice of the night?
Casella: No, when I get home at midnight, I don’t do the closure. You can also do it in the afternoon and elsewhere. I don’t always need candles and gong (laughs).
By Sergio Nuñez
