Presentation of seven new Canarian projects associated with cultural heritage, education and social groups

 

The Arts and Movement Festival FAM organised a forum of professionals to promote dance through projects underway in the Canary Islands associated with education, cultural heritage and social groups. The meeting took place on Thursday (6 June) at the Teatro Guimerá. It was attended by the Minister of Culture of the Island Council of Tenerife, José Carlos Acha, and the council member for Culture of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santiago Díaz.

During his speech, José Carlos Acha mentioned the recent aid measures approved by the regional government for the Network of Municipal Performing Arts Venues: “The creation of networks is of vital importance, and we are here today to promote projects that may be taken anywhere on the island”. The council member added, “Dance is such an extraordinary medium. It is an ephemerous art that changes with every performance and develops languages of corporal expression to allow creation, participation and social inclusion through culture”. Santiago Díaz appealed to the sector, asking for greater relevance of “educational initiatives for artistic performances as a means of achieving greater enjoyment of the public and increased involvement of all spectators”.

The artistic director of the Auditorio de Tenerife, José Luis Rivero, and the coordinator of the Performing Arts of the Regional Institute of Cultural Development (ICDC), Lorena Matute, introduced the event. Rivero explained that “The Festival of Dance Arts has always taken place with the help of a forum to have time to reflect, to inspire and to motivate. This year’s novelty is that the curatorship has been taken on jointly by the three institutions collaborating in the festival”.

Both speakers provided the audience with data on their respective programmes for the exhibition of performing arts. The information suggests little activity in the area of dance, which may be explained by the fact that authorities invest far less in dance than in other disciplines. Lorena Matute suggested “searching for a common ground to see dance from a perspective other than an exhibition, to meet goals by taking a different approach from areas such as cultural heritage, social initiatives or education”.

Details were provided on the projects that had been invited to participate in the forum. The managers of the Autonomous Department of Cultural Affairs of the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Leandro González and Yudi Acosta, presented the video-dance performance Cabeza de venado, which was shown along with the eponymous painting of Diego Velázquez, on loan from the Prado Museum, and the show Dulces bestias of the company Nómada. The second project shown was Across Hip Hop, presented by the council member for Culture of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Adrián Santana, and Vanesa Medina, the educational coordinator of the project, which features the artistic direction of Natalia Medina.

Afterwards, the photographer and videographer Derek Pedrós and the dancer Emiliana Battista Marino offered the public details of their project on dance and architecture. La Pascua Florida de Guía de Isora was presented by the councilmember, José Vidal, and the dancer and choreographer Roberto Torres. The artistic project Puzzle Atípico, which places professionals from the worlds of dance, theatre, performance art and video art alongside ordinary people with and without Asperger’s/ASD, was shown by the person in charge of the initiative, the head of the Laboratory of Live Arts and Citizenship of Tenerife, Beatriz Bello, and the representative of the association Aspercan, María Europa Luis Ramallo.

The council member of the Island Council of Lanzarote, Alejandro Aguilar, and the director of Studio Danza Emocional, Celia Medina, presented the programme Diversos. Lastly, the programme Danza en Comunidad by the Auditorio de Tenerife was shown with the collaboration of José Luis Rivero and the coordinator and dancer Laura Marrero.

This Sunday (9th), the Arts and Movement Festival FAM culminates at 7:30 p.m. with the large-format performance Mont Ventoux, by the Spanish company Kor'sia. The show has three nominations for the Max Awards for the Performing Arts. In addition, the programme continues today (Friday 7 June) with several proposals to be enjoyed in the streets of Santa Cruz. On Saturday (8th), the Espacio La Granja welcomes He aquí un acto romántico by Richard Mascherin, and the Teatro Guimerá hosts Sonoma, by La Veronal. You can find the tickets for the indoor shows, at a single price of €8, and all the updated information on the festival on the website www.famtenerife.com.

The FAM festival, which started on June 1 in different venues in Santa Cruz, is an initiative promoted by the Auditorio de Tenerife with the collaboration of the Canary Islands Government through the Regional Institute of Cultural Development, the Autonomous Department of Cultural Affairs of the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the programme "Danza a Escena", which is part of the Spanish Network of Theatres of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) of Spain's Ministry of Culture.