amilton de azevedo writes about Gentle Unicorn, by Chiara Bersani (Italy), presented in the 2025 Festival TransAmériques (FTA – Tiohtià:ké/Montreal). this text is part of a special coverage; the critic traveled to Canada at the invitation of the FTA.

In a corner of a broad, empty space, lies Chiara Bersani. She’s there, facing the linoleum, and she is alive; her movement gets hidden between the chattery of the public entrance, but they are there. Before we enter Gentle Unicorn, we receive a postcard and a letter – a letter from a future past of our present; “who knows if we will eventually discover that yes, we actually exist”. As Bersani writes, she’s waiting for us with her heart on her throat.

So what does it mean to enter a place where someone’s waiting for you with her heart on her throat? I recall hearing some loud laughter, I recall being sort of bothered by it. But then, again, what does it mean to collectively be somewhere at all? Gentle Unicorn is deeply tied to creating community. Bersani is there, for all to see, whilst every centimeter of her movement is performed towards the construction of the us of these every moment. Her movement fulfills the whole space, and we are called to be a part of that universe. 

It is a subtle odyssey. As she crosses the void, it becomes a territory; not as an imposition, but as an invitation. Gentle Unicorn is an exercise on building worlds with no words. Tiny gestures are offerings to be accepted and joined within Bersani’s playful jesting. What is being put into existence is a possibility of being together facing unusual possibilities of being.

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The image of an unicorn is brought from the title of the performance, and who could say that we’re not witnessing such a miraculous creature manifesting themself in front of us? At every little movement, Bersani brings up some kind of magic to the stage. What we’re seeing are manifestations of animals, not-animals, humans, not-humans; all sorts of life being summoned to coexist and play together.

As foretold, to reflect upon the experience of being a part of Gentle Unicorn is an act of reflecting on oneself; reflecting on the possibilities of existing together by imagining other possibilities of being on itself. In that sense, it might be pertinent to think about how the audience is (co)participating in this creation. For what it seems, as the work was presented at 2025 Festival TransAmériques, we could think about two audiences’ experiences: to be in or out of the dream-cloud.

Cushions are spreaded around three sides of the misé-en-scene. Behind one of them, regular audience seats. Bersani’s gaze is central to the worldbuilding of Gentle Unicorn. Some of us may not be seen or perceived from afar. It is not a win/lose equation. By sitting further from the action, one can enjoy a panoramic look of Valeria Foti’s light design that creates a universe of its own by ground reflectors aimed up at reflective materials on the roof, turning the floor into a rainbowish place. Being close, right next to Bersani, one can feel actually included in the dreamlike reality being built.

Bersani’s movement is blissfully joyful, breaking up any defenses from the public as she lifts a foot or smiles charismatically. Subtlety, this Gentle Unicorn is a contagious being and everyone around her becomes a part of it. Yet, from a distance, we are witnesses, voyeurs; spectators of an événement. Like watchers of someone else’s dream, we might be longing to be there, to be seen. Longing for recognition – not excluded, but distant. 

This Gentle Unicorn creates for itself layers of differentiation, which may seem contradictory until the moment that Bersani’s trumpet is responded by other instruments even further from the space than the audience. With enough desire, attention and openness, everyone can ride the clouds.