Performance by Cecilia Bengolea

The video Synchronized Serpent was born from a collaboration between Cecilia Bengolea and the Jamaican national synchronized swimming team, coached by Olympic gold medalist Olga Novokshchenova. Inspired by Jorge Luis Borges's book of imaginary beings, where chimeras from different cultures recompose themselves to create new ones, the video work features figures and backgrounds dancing in harmony. Hybrid creatures synchronize in the Caribbean Sea at the Alligator Head Foundation in Jamaica. The soundscape is a blend of deep-sea creatures, aquatic mammals, and jet skis.

The Shadow of the Synchronized Serpent is a video performance and installation conceived and performed by Cecilia Bengolea. Projected onto an LED wall, the video Synchronized Serpent shows Bengolea dancing in negative on stage, recreating choreographed dances in the water for the Jamaican synchronized swimming team. The figure on stage, in a completely black mask-like costume, stands out from the background like a phantom shadow escaping from the video.