In Riyadh’s monumental Diriyah Mayadeen Hall, Dragone unveiled a new creation for the inaugural ImpaQ Forum: The Butterfly Effect. Conceived by Filippo Ferraresi in dialogue with the words and vision of Saudi poet and writer Dr. Saleh Zamanan, the show explored one of the most universal yet fragile truths of human existence: every action, no matter how small, carries the power to influence others — for good or for harm.
A Story Written in Movement
The performance began in stillness. From beneath a vast fabric, sixty performers slowly awoke — humanity itself rising into awareness.
At the heart of the awakening, a boy and a girl discovered one another. Their pas de deux is delicate, embodying the first flutter of a butterfly’s wings — how one soul touches another, altering its course forever.
But harmony is never guaranteed. A shadowy force tore the boy away, a metaphor for the destructive influences that haunt human lives.
The girl set out to save him. A breathtaking sequence followed: sixty performers wielding sixty mirrors, each reflecting fragments of the self, fragments of the audience, fragments of one another. Movement cascaded like falling dominoes across the 70-meter stage, illustrating how one choice ignites a chain reaction, echoing the butterfly effect itself.
Technology, too, entered the narrative. A kinetic light installation of suspended mirrored discs — shimmering, floating, alive — filled the hall with a futuristic glow. Both beautiful and unsettling, it evoked the double-edged influence of technology in modern life.
Finally, after struggle and reflection, the boy and girl were reunited. As the cast united around them, a monumental lavender branch, eight meters long, descended. Lavender — symbol of healing, calm, and unity — became the final image: fragile, fragrant, powerful, just like a butterfly’s wingbeat that can change the world.
Artistic Collaboration
The show was shaped by the artistry of many voices:
• Choreography: Anna Hop from Warsaw, whose mastery gave the cast breathtaking cascades of domino-like motion, embodying the ripple effect.
• Costumes: Ebthial Ali, whose original designs blended universality with cultural resonance.
• Technology: In collaboration with Kinetic Lights, a suspended installation of mirrored discs became both symbol and presence — a technological “other” influencing and reflecting humanity.
Facts & Figures
- Title: The Butterfly Effect
- Cast: 60 performers, including 15 from Poland
- Choreographer: Anna Hop (Warsaw, Poland)
- Costumes: Original creations by Ebthial Ali
- Stage size: 70 meters wide
- Rehearsals: Held in Warsaw before transfer to Riyadh
- Special installation: Kinetic light system with mirrored discs by Kinetic Lights, symbolizing technological influence
- Final image: An 8-meter lavender branch, symbol of unity
The Echo of a Wingbeat
The Butterfly Effect was not only a performance, but a meditation on our shared responsibility: every action, every gesture, every word can ripple outward in ways we may never fully see.
In Riyadh, under the soaring architecture of Diriyah Mayadeen Hall, Dragone invited audiences to feel that truth — to see themselves reflected in mirrors, multiplied in movement, united beneath lavender.
