"Antarctica:" "The South Pole." "Average temperature: - 40°C." "One creature survives on the pack ice:" "The emperor penguin." "Winter will last nine months..." "All is white" "I think it snowed in the night" "Everything is cold So cold outside" "I listen to the wind All alone" "I know it means the storm will come" "I want to live in paradise" "I want to live in the South" "I want to live in paradise" "At the south of the earth tonight" "All is white I know it snowed in the night" "Everything is cold So cold outside" "I try to be calm It's a lonely trip" "Listen to my eyes Listen to my lips" "I want to live in paradise" "I want to live in the South" "I want to live in paradise" "At the south of the earth tonight" "Once upon a time a garden" "A fertile world where life was a given" "A long time ago - before winter" "But one day, everything was blanked plants, animals" "Those who could flee did so, but our ancestors decided to stay." "At any cost" "And to resist tothis frost which was taking everything" "Time has passed 100 times, Earth has changed its face" "We are still there" "We stand, light sentinels." "Here is our story." "Where are the others?" "I feel dizzy leaving the Ocean." "Here we are, our two feets in the snow, in this country too large for us." "Are we all here?" "Everybody's here?" "A day passes, and another... and the third day..." "We gathered all here today, from the straightest to the hunchbakcs, all of us" "Waiting for the signal" "The signal..." "In this great day, One third into the year, when the moon and the sun meet at half day, we, swimmers, stand up and start to walk." "Our kind is forever shared between the ocean which feeds us and on the other side beyond the great plain the ice covered ocean, ...a meeting." "We've got a rendez vous." "Now standing up we walk, like nomads, we walk one day, two days ten days, twenty days." "The same number of nights the same number of cold nights" "Here comes the time of the first walk" "The walk of the long caravans" "Above us, the sky's paths are shining" "The sun, the stars draw eternal maps" "Under our feets, Earth's heart humms..." "Humms its beautiful magnetic fields" "Each year, our trek takes a new turn" "Icebergs are like giant tramps" "They sleep wherever winter catches up with them!" "Sometimes we have to make long detours" "Going around the sleeping titans." "But even the oldest amongst us cannot remember ever being lost" "Despite the cold engulfing the plain despite the dreamy mountains' walls caravans from all 4 corners of the horizon are gathering - nearly the same day at the same time, at the same place." "As if by magic." "10 days pass and thousands of steps" "And another 10 days another thousands of steps ...and one morning" "Our people gets to the end of the trip" "Here are the stone doors that witnessed our birth" "Since the dawn of times" "It's here, on the Oamock that we meet every year to give life." "No place is safer" "Protected by granite walls and the ice beneath our feet will not break until summer." "No more order, no more steps we all freely roam the crowd ...looking for our soulmate." "Love songs cover the Oamock" "We marry for the whole year to a single partner." "Every yearit's the same." "As soon as we arrive it's slapping time." "More females than males!" "Females fierciously fight for us:- )" "A new couple?" "They intervene." "A married male is a lost male..." "So they dive in, push their way in." "Other couples wait." "Those who, like us have already found each other isolate themselves in the intimacy of songs and parades." "Our nuptial dance is opening the big winter's bal" "Won't you open for me" "The door to your ice world" "To your white desert" "I just want to stare" "Out over these snowfields" "Until we are one again" "We belong to the frozen world" "When the ice begins to thaw" "Becomes the sea" "You will see" "How beautiful we can be" "You will see" "How beautiful we can be" "Everything is cold" "At the end of the planet" "In our white desert" "The sun kissed the ice" "It glistens for me" "And we are one again" "We belong to the frozen world" "When the ice begins to thaw" "Becomes the sea" "You will see" "How beautiful we can be" "We are going to dance for the longest of winters" "We'll lose and find each other for 9 months" "If our ballet is harmonious, we shall survive" "Too bad for those who couldn't follow those who are erring, lost, those who are late or weak." "At the desert's mercy, far from the Oamock's granite walls" "Without the groups' strength, the solitary is condemned." "Those the march forgot slowly fade." "Here, white reigns - what dies ...is erased." "Already, winter's first tears come." "Soft tears, like souvenirs from the sea" "Love was proclaimed," "Love was made, all those around us keep quiet." "In the warmth of our bodies, a promise of life starts" "A moon passes and we wait." "A moon passes and we wait." "Another moon and we wait." "Another moon and we wait." "Comes the 3rd moon, the time has come." "With our feathers, we have to cover life the moment it appears ...hide it." "Cold is everywhere" "This mini heart's tremor, hidden in its shell is so vulnerable in this huge ice land." "Here, you need much more life to create life." "From now on, each of our move aims at one single thing:" "keep him alive." "I'm worn out." "I need to go back to the sea, eat to keep my body awake." "Yet, before, I need to give the egg to his father." "Life contained in the egg won't resist the frost's bite" "No more than a few seconds" "Some couples, like this one - they must be young - are too nervous" "Frost bites and breaks the treasure of the hurried, the clumsy, the unlukcy." "Their dance is over, their year is lost." "Now without an aim, they'll go, in an errand towards the ocean." "100 times, we patiently repeat the dance before passing the egg." "Again and again, we repeat the litany of our songs, of our charms." "Again and again, we repeat the litany of our songs, of our charms." "In our dance's balancing act lies the perfect movement" "This little step, this little step." "I'm leaving," "I have to walk to the ocean." "I'll stay with our egg, I will cover it." "My belly's warmth will protect until your return." "Go back to the ocean and its food feasts." "And make sure you're back in time, too feed our soon-to-born baby." "We'll wait for you." "It's time for the 2nd walk, the march at dawn." "For the first time, dancers separate." "I'm starving." "Our food is over there, beyond the desert." "Yet only here, on the Oamock's solid ice... can our baby be born." "We'll go to the sea, they'll stay here." "They'll walk, we'll wait." "Two month... of misery, and fight to try to preserve life." "For the last few days, the sky above darkens." "The sun, the mountains, the settings change." "It's like hearing winter preparing its first blow." "We look like circus artists with this egg on our feet." "We're now a single body rolling itself like a storm roll." "We'll hold." "Same winter - we walk again and again" "Cruel irony, on the ocean's back we're looking for the door." "Here, under the ice, fishes swim." "Here, on the ice, the storm blows." "The starving walkers suffer." "The smell of water..." "We can smell the water." "The entrance isn't far." "Here we are." "The ocean at last!" "Caress of the water, everywhere, the light shows the way to the abyss." "Over there, past the blue gateway to the deep, ...the table is ready." "See" "how I fly" "In the sea" "Like in the sky" "You set me free" "Sometimes, the wind leaves a bit of fresh snow for us ...it quenches our thirst." "3 months without any food!" "We defy winter and reach life's limits." "Some pass the border, they fall asleep, slowly." "White spreads little by little over their body, which disappear forever." "Nightime ...we crawl under the storms, cold rules." "It has no name." "We hold without failing, under the mother of all blizzards melded together, a single body, like the scale ...of turltes are fitted." "Night's daughters wear their best veils." "They run ...under the stars, dance to the wind's song." "Be courageous, enslaved people, this dance is going" "To the sky's limit, looking for the sun who forgot us." "How soft is the sea's water!" "We enjoy the ocean as long as we can." "But on the Oamock, life will soon need us." "With a single jawbite, the monster erased two lives ...the life of the trapped mother and that of her baby who will never be fed." "We are still petrified by terror." "Around us, the night has the smell of frost we remember the ice's noise so different from the ocean's songs" "It's time for the return time for the 3rd march, the walk of the moon." "In the endless night, we find our way to our land of cold." "We bring back lots of food to feed our babies." "People are waiting for us." "We have to hurry." "Our gaping night takes forever ...and get bogged, a 100 days long night, filled with cold and turmoil." "Yet... this morning..." "something sparkles in the air." "The light is back." "We have vainquished winter." "Life... so small, so beautiful, unreal in this cold that erodes us." "We reached the summit of our torment." "From now on, each day will bring a stronger sun, which frees the youngs from their shells." "Where are they?" "But where are they?" "How long have we been going around like that?" "Dawn's first glow has awaken winter." "It enrages, it increases." "Cold is so strong that it finally froze the wind." "It tighten its grip on us, locks us stronger, ...clenches stronger." "So we turn, so as not to be too exposed to the cold ...our back to the cold." "Heat exists, at the turtle's hearth, hidden under the heads." "At our feet, babies appear, always more plentiful." "Where are they?" "As soon as they hatch out, the babies are hungry." "The mothers have to come back!" "In this cold, their energy fades so quickly." "And I am exhaused, 4 months without any food." "I am empty." "Barely enough to walk another 20 days." "20 days... the eternity that separates us from the ocean." "So this evening, if his mother hasn't come back, ...I'll have to go, abandon my child." "But before we give up, there's still a chance." "The hidden part, a few crumbles preserved deep inside my body, ...despite these months of starvation." "A few more hours of life." "I had kept them for you, in expecation of this moment." "Who will win?" "Life or winter?" "For some, it's already too late." "We walk, and in us, life shrieks:" "Hurry up!" "Hurry up!" "He, she, is born, needing you, He, she will not hold for long, now." "Frightened for no reason, a lot of wasted time." "We push our speed." "The wind brings puffs of familiar scents." "The colony's not far, faster!" "The Oamock, at last!" "Who will I find?" "Is my baby dead?" "Is he or she still alive?" "Where in this crowd are you?" "Where are you?" "This voice..." "This chant coming towards me..." "This baby calling, is he or she mine?" "Come on, sing!" "You did hold!" "You came back in time!" "You are still here." "And you, I only meet you now, my marvelous son of the winter, ...my little baby." "Do you remember the dance, our songs in the times of love?" "Here they are again renewed to celebrate your return." "I must take our child, and you must leave hastilly." "A short moment, a precious moment." "Within one step, we'll be separated, ...Soon we'll be 1000 winters apart, let's make the most of it!" "Another instant." "Youngster, listen carefully to my voice ...thanks to my voice you'll recognise me one day." "I'd like to be able to promise I'll come back." "It's my turn to leave." "My strength desert me, I have to complete the most dangerous part of the trip:" "the march of the starved ones." "The ultimate march, the march which decimates us every year." "Here it comes at last - renewal." "Slowly, light blossoms on the Oamock." "Like the sun, our youngs grow stronger day by day." "But summer is still far." "No way we'll let our youngs out." "They are so frail, They need... our warmth." "Around us, frost lurks." "10 days pass by then 10 more days." "And one beautiful morning..." "I am going for my first walk by myself!" "Oh, it's like a nettle... under the paw!" "I'm cold!" "It's funny, it tickles!" "Here, my first walk, the march of the free chick!" "Cold is bringing them back under our paws." "But they made the great jump." "A page of their life has been turned." "We haven't seen snow running like that." "Adults sqeeze together, they are worrying." "This wind is no bearer of good news." "The dying winter is kicking us with it last blizzard." "We think cold lost its arrogance, ...but our youngs think otherwise." "They'll have to be strong." "The time of their initiation has come." "It's the dreaded moment of their first turmoil." "Can't you hear my storm coming Stones falling on to you" "Can't you feel the earth shaking Big dark clouds forming now" "And I hope you're satisfied" "I hope you're satisfied" "I hope you're satisfied" "To see the wind blow over me" "Can't you hear my sky shouting" "Close, chasing after you" "Deep, dark fear building up It's too strong for you" "And I hope you're satisfied" "I hope you're satisfied" "I hope you're satisfied" "To see the wind" "Blow over me" "Can't you hear my storm coming" "Stones falling" "Big dark clouds forming now" "The wind leaves, on its trail, mothers looking for their child." "Trembling lost chicks." "And a harvest of lost lives, swept away by the cold." "All these efforts broken by a gust of wind." "Some find it unbearable." "They need a child, at any price." "Life has to keep on growing on their feet." "So, they perpetrate the most inconceivable act." "In a moment of crazyness, the steal someone else's child." "That was just!" "I thought they would crush me!" "You saved me!" "It feels good to be close to you." "Happy birthday, short legs!" "One month ago we were hatching out of our shells, now we run." "Not bad, innit?" "We don't even need our mothers to get warm." "Sometimes, we'd really like to go under the warm duvet." "There's always one or two who slouch in the pockets." "They pretend to be cold, but for them, same system:" "Stand up, your two paws on the ice, and walk!" "When time's up, time is up!" "Now, we are in-de-pen-dent!" "When we are cold, there's the child care centre." "Not bad, we aggregate and keep warm." "A bit like our fathers making a big turtle." "But it's hard to stay in place." "I'm going to have to leave you alone, I'll be back quickly." "I need to go and fish to nourish you." "You'll stay here, your father should be there soon." "You'll recognise his chant." "He'll recognise yours." "I'm not too fond of staying alone." "Wait!" "I'm a little bit afraid." "Alert!" "The long wings are coming!" "Hurry, to the day care centre!" "Oh!" "What about those ones, left alone over there!" "It's over for that one." "She'll never see the sea." "Here they come!" "The fathers are back!" "Is my father with them?" "Yes, it's him, I'm know it." "Yes, it's you, I know it." "Adults keep on going and coming back." "They have two sides:" "The white one, it's the full bellies coming back." "The black one, empty bellies leaving." "As for us, front or back, we are grey." "We are always hungry!" "Sometimes come days we can't even dream of." "For weeks, we have fed our kid separated, never meeting up." "And here we are, reunited by the finest of all hasards." "Our kid is strong, our kid is lovely." "On the wake of the last march, let's promise to meet for next season to dance again, maybe tie the knot for another winter." "It's been a few days, it's always sunny and there's no night." "The icefield groans, ...it looks like it wants to leave." "It's time to depart." "The ocean calls me, it will call you soon." "To life, little son of winter, to life!" "There ends our last march." "The separation march, that of the return to the sea." "We leave the Oamock for this year." "The time of the couples has passed away, the dance is finished." "The dancers leave their separate way." "We return to... the water for the year's most beautiful moons." "Three months of ocean, Three months of summer, ...of swimming and pleasure!" "These last few days, we feel strange." "We don't even want to eat, maybe we are becoming adults?" "Time for us to answer the call." "Like our parents came from the sea, ...it's our turn to walk towards the ocean." "We leave the Oamock to join our people in the gentle deep." "Little ice walkers, here comes the time of metamorphosis, we became children of the ocean, amongst children of the ocean." "One day, far away, this famous day of 1/3 of the year ...when the sun and the moon meet in the sky, ...we'll have to jump out of the sea and become walkers again." "Faithfull to our forefathers' oath, ...we'll come back here to dance for life during the biggest winter, and perpetuate the march of the Emperor." "Subs CEDRA PRODUCTIONS Translated by Patrick"