The River and The Devil - Performance & Encounter - Paula Almirón

Devils & Rivers

The river and the devil tells a story from the colonial era, set in the Bolivian Altiplano, where the Desaguadero River and its uncontrollable nature were demonised by the colonists and renamed “The Devil”. Since then, the river has dried up and, after years of continuous water extraction, has turned into a salty wasteland.

By presenting the devil not as a destructive force but as the guardian of the river, The River and the Devil explores resilience and the remnants of fragmented stories. The piece combines dance, fiction and collective stories and evokes a sense of life amid ruins, asking what remains when a river disappears. Mythological figures and spirits that once protected the river linger as echoes in a poignant meditation on loss and perseverance.