A pelo [a ˈ pe.lo] — loc. Adv.
- Done without protection or preparation, without much thought.
- Naked; without disguise.
- Colloq. without a saddle, “bareback”.
- Fig. To face something unarmed, often impulsively.
In this raw and physical duet, which serves as a prequel to We Play So Hard We Hurt Each Other, Fernando Troya takes us back to a darker period of his past. A time of hypersexualization that often left him feeling bad and condemned. The piece shows how queer desire becomes conflict and the body its battleground. Unapologetically intimate, it wants to be seen, felt, and endured.
Two bodies trapped. When one tries to escape, the other becomes the jailer.
What if the only way out is through the other person?
A Pelo is not here to please you. It is here to possess you.
Creator: Fernando Troya / Performers: Fernando Troya, Nacho Sanz / Music: Marko Ivic / Assistant director: Quentin Roger / Dramaturgy: Gerben Vaillant / Light design: Cerian Mason, Fernando Troya / Set design: Cerian Mason, Dana Claasen, Fernando Troya / Photography: Ferran Sanchez Castillo / Production assistant: Rosanna Freda / Special thanks to: Ignacio Sanz, Barnaby Savage and the partners of ICK Dans Amsterdam, Free Willie, Club Church and Amsterdam Fringe Festival (especially Willem van Rossum and Farnoosh Farnia)
Fernando Troya (1989) is a performing artist and the director of A Pelo Productions. He is currently supported by ICK Amsterdam. He is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, though he was born in Madrid, Spain. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Dance in Madrid (2008) and completed a BA in Dance at the María de Ávila Conservatory (2022). His practice as a maker, however, extends into the realm of physical theatre and performance.
In 2024, Fernando produced and presented We play so hard it hurts at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival, with the support of ICK Amsterdam, AFK, Norma Fonds, Free Willie and Club Church, among others. He won the International Bursary Award, which is currently allowing the production to tour nationally and internationally.
He has also produced independent projects such as the series Reminiscente, a two-and-a-half-year research project on Plato’s Theory of Forms and the painter Francisco de Goya; Essential Rights, awarded the BNG Bank Dansprijs in the Netherlands; and Withering, a solo work performed and awarded at various festivals around the world.
