dance

‘Patum’ is a popular festival celebrated every year during Corpus Christi in the Catalan city of Berga. In this town, the earliest reference to this festival dates from 1454 although the celebration has its origins in pre-Christian festivities. During five days, the streets of Berga are transformed into a massive stage. The ‘Patum’ festival,  which was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, comprises several parts and is a mixture of sound, fire and parades of allegorical and traditional figures such as ‘Guites’ (mule dragons), the Eagle and giant-headed dwarves. All the figures join to perform the final dance, the Tirabol. This years’ ‘Patum’ will take place from the 25th to the 28th of May.

The eighth edition of the Sismògraf Olot Dance Festival, held in the Girona region, ended this this Sunday with a record-breaking 150,000 attendees, marking a 25% increase from 2015. The festival was made up of approximately thirty performances, most of them free and performed outdoors; of the eleven shows that were not free of charge, however, all were sold out. Entertaining the audience were 200 professionals, the number of which has also grown by 33% since last year. A quarter of these performers came from outside Catalonia, predominantly from England and Holland. Not only was there a first-time high in terms of attendance and performers, but the festival has also implemented an award, and is for the first time seeing a carry-over of shows related to the festival for the rest of the year.  

A record-breaking 30,504 spectators attended the 5^th edition of the Figueres International Circus Festival, which was sold out for almost all performances. The three acts which won the Golden Elephant, the Figueres International Circus Festival first prize, were from China and Mongolia. From China, the WuQiao Arts School of China performed ‘Qin Warriors’, while the Sheyang Acrobatic Troupe of China showcased ‘Fan Dance.’ From Mongolia, ‘Troupe Nomuna’ performed an acrobatic tumbling act. Figueres, a city near the Costa Brava and bordering with France, already hosts the second biggest international circus festival after the one at Monte-Carlo.

Barcelona's summer Festival Grec is the city’s main yearly event for theatre, dance, music, circus and other stage arts, taking place from the 1^st to the 31^st of July. On Wednesday, the Festival's Director, Ramon Simó, announced that the dance show 'Vorònia' by Catalan company La Veronal will open the event, also disclosing some of the shows in the 2015 programme. This year, the Grec will celebrate its 39^th edition and by now it has become a milestone on the European festival calendar. The event’s title is taken from its main venue: the Greek Theatre, on Montjuïc, an open-air theatre built for the 1929 Universal Exhibition. In total, last year's edition attracted 127,471 people, of which 79,254 went to see shows which required payment (79 in total).

Carlus Padrissa is the most active of the current artistic directors of the La Fura dels Baus, one of the most well-known Catalan theatre performing arts companies, internationally known for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Barcelona Olympics. Always looking to break the barrier between the audience and the artists, La Fura puts their focus on interaction mixed with traditional cultural elements of Catalan street celebrations. Pieces such as ‘Actions’, ‘Suz/O/Suz’ and ‘Tier Mon’ established them as innovative creators for both critics and spectators alike in the 1980s. Carlus Padrissa cannot escape from his vocation: the ambition of breaking conventions and renewing cultural contexts while redefining concepts. Now in his 50s, he is working more than ever without limitations. As long as he keeps creating, retirement isn’t part of his future plans.

‘The Bewitched Love’, a well-known musical piece composed by Manuel de Falla celebrates a century on stage this year. Catalan theatrical company La Fura dels Baus, world-reknown for their innovative, provocative and technological creations, is commemorating the anniversary by preparing a musical performance which includes flamenco dance, fire and water as part of the play. The show is going to be called ‘El amor brujo: el fuego y la palabra’ [The Bewitched Love: the fire and the word], and will premiere on 10 July in Granada before travelling to the Castell de Peralada International Festival in Girona. 

Cesc Gelabert, a dancer and choreographer from Barcelona, premieres Foot-Ball on 22 January at the National Theatre of Catalonia. This show features seven dancers including Gelabert who express the way FC Barcelona play on stage. Foot-ball features costume by Lydia Azzopardi and audiovisual creations by Jordi Morató. The choreography will be a dialogue with these audiovisuals that will show the best moments from the Barça of Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. Gelabert wants to honour his club with this performance. “Barça's football is particularly aesthetic and choreographic because it is based on combinations and not on force”, he said. 

The renowned performing arts festival Temporada Alta has revealed the first big names for its 23^rd edition, which will take place in the cities of Girona and Salt (north-eastern Catalonia), from the 3^rd of October until the 8^th of December. The headliner on the international scene this year is MacbETH, an adaptation by Brett Bailey of Verdi’s opera relocated in the centre of post-colonial Africa and sang by twelve African voices. Pau Miró's adaptation of Angel Guimerà's Catalan classic Terra Baixa (Lowlands) in a solo-performance by the actor Lluís Homar and the play Ruz-Bárcenas, based on the 2013 corruption scandal involving the People's Party (PP), are also amongst the more than 90 shows that will perform in this festival that is a springboard for fresh talent.

This year's edition of Barcelona's performing arts summer festival, Grec, attracted around 80,000 spectators and achieved a 58.15% capacity utilisation in the shows which require payment. According to provisional statistics, taken before the event was over, for the 79 shows that made up the summer festival there were 136,291 seats available and 67,623 tickets were sold, filling 49.61% of the potential capacity. However, overall there was total of 79,254 spectators. Last year 66,466 people attended the shows which required payment and 55,766 tickets were sold. The total number of spectators who attended the festival this year, both paying customers and those who went to free shows, amounted to 127,471 people, whilst in 2013 there were 119,000 individuals.

Six Catalan performing arts companies have introduced their projects at the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) 2014 Showcase and a further three have taken part in the official program of the festival, thanks to the collaboration of the Culture Department and FiraTàrrega with GDIF. The 2014 edition of the renowned street arts festival will run from 20-28 June, showcasing some of the most interesting street theatre on the continent. Its director, Bradley Hemmings, told CNA that FiraTàrrega has "influenced the structure and development" of the show, one of the largest in the UK, and he was looking forward to receiving fresh Catalan projects.

Catalan Rumba is part of the Catalan cultural heritage as much as the traditional folk dance Sardana or the famous human towers known as Castellers. This musical genre, born on the streets of Barcelona during the Sixties, is often mistaken for flamenco or other popular Latin sounds. Musicians such as Peret, Antonio González ‘El Pescaílla’ or Gato Pérez were pioneers of this style and contributed to its institutional and social recognition. Different waves of groups and artists have left their footprint on the Catalan Rumba, which is experiencing a third new age defined by a more eclectic sound that reflects Barcelona’s multicultural and cosmopolitan lifestyle.

The 51^st edition of the International Festival of Porta Ferrada, located in the Costa Brava town of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, closed its doors with an average attendance of 91%. The event contained 21 music, theatre and dance performances, which had a total attendance of 11,105 people, 10,296 who paid for tickets and 890 going to the free events on offer. 6 shows were complete sell-outs: 5 of the 10 in the Espai Port (the main stage of the festival), and the ‘Concerts per a nadons’ (Concerts for babies). Albert Mallol, Artistic Director of the Porta Ferrada festival, told the CNA that it is important try to find new venues to be added to the iconic locations that already exist in order to increase the amount of musical and theatre performances.

The 37^th annual Grec Festival is to close on Wednesday with an expected increase of 1,000 tickets sold compared to last year’s edition. Festival Director, Ramon Simó, assured that the festival has been a success and that ticket targets have been achieved. With regards to the attendance by genre, theatre events were the most popular with 38,878 viewers watching 40 shows (at 44% capacity). 14,362 people watched 14 live concerts (63% capacity), 10,652 spectators watched the 8 dance shows on offer (70% capacity), while the 4 circus productions received 5,574 viewers (86% capacity). The average attendance to the festival was 52%, which considering the crisis in the performing arts sector is a significant figure according to Simó.

Carmen Amaya is considered the best flamenco dancer in history whose passionate and wild style changed the conception of flamenco. Born in Barcelona in 1917, Amaya travelled around the world and triumphed in Latin America, United States and South Africa. This year marks the 50th anniversary of her death and the Catalan Government has proclaimed 2013 Carmen Amaya Year, with the intention of recognising the career of one of the best-known Catalan artists.

The David Campos Ballet company, famous for combining classical ballet with contemporary dance, is the latest victim of the crisis that is asphyxiating cultural projects and, in particular, those related to classical dance. On Sunday, the company created and directed by David Campos performed its last show on stage, after 25 years of work at an international level, a representation of ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ in Terrassa, Greater Barcelona. The ballet director lamented that dance is “the last echelon of culture” in this country, despite it being “an active genre” that fills up theatres with rejuvenated audiences.