DUAL is a real-time stage composition based on a doctoral thesis on creative movement as a tool to prevent motor and cerebral ageing, developed by Álvaro Murillo at the University of Extremadura.
Through technology, the live sound generated by Murillo is picked up by the musician Daniel Muñoz (‘Artomático’) to create a sound space in real time. The act of listening to each other and the acoustic characteristics of the space – in this case, the Gaiás Museum – means that each performance is a uniquely creative event.
DUAL brings to the stage a complex issue for contemporary science with the aim of providing the audience with a creative and emotional experience based on science.
The doctoral thesis Motor and cerebral ageing in dual tasks with physical exercise, dance and creativity in people with fibromyalgia received support from the State Programme for the Promotion of Talent and its Employability, within the framework of the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013-2016. DUAL was selected by the Laboratorio de Nuevos Medios de Trayectos, the International Contemporary Dance Festival of Zaragoza with an artistic residency at the Centro de Arte y Tecnología Etopia. He also resided in the choreographic centre A Casa Vella (Ourense) at the beginning of 2024.
The movement work was supported by the listening and external gaze of the choreographer, contemporary dance performer and psychologist Ana Cotoré.
Álvaro Murillo
He started dancing as an adult and obtained a degree in Dance Psycho-pedagogy and Performer Techniques at the University of Extremadura. As part of the training programme of the À Corps Festival (France), he received training from choreographers such as Imre Thorman, Laurent Falguieras, François Chaignaud, Laurent Chetonne, Christine Bombal, Gaëlle Bourges and Boris Charmatz.
Álvaro Murillo declares himself to be self-taught in his approach to the language of flamenco and contemporary dance. He is the top student in the Degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences and is currently working on a doctoral thesis on the physical and cerebral effects of dance and motor creativity in people with chronic pain. He is also one of the two artistic directors of the International Dance Festival DZM (Cáceres).
His creative projects include: El barbero de Picasso ( 2018, presented at the National Theatre in Nairobi together with a conference on the relationship between Africa and flamenco); 8 Km ( 2019, a street theatre piece based on Las bodas de Sangre by Federico García Lorca); Flamencas ( 2020) and Serrana (2022) with the circus, flamenco and dance company Albadulake. In 2023, he brought us the Flamenco Futur project, based on Vicente Escudero’s Flamenco Decalogue through the Flamenco Lab programme (Fundación Paco de Lucía and Fundación Música Creativa).
Daniel Muñoz – Artomático
‘Artomático’ is the electronic music project of Daniel Muñoz (Madrid, 1970), a musician, producer, cultural manager and sound engineer with a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the Complutense University of Madrid. Alongside this, he worked on Spanish music stars’ live sound, as well as composing for film and television. He was in charge of the online cultural dissemination project Flamenco-world.com, where he was also in charge of stage photography. After several years of laboratory work with machines, ‘Artomático’ was born, fusing improvisational electronics with genres such as flamenco.
The piece DANZA 220V, created with Estévez & Panos and Antonio Ruz, premiered at the Festival Madrid en Danza. He created the music and sound design for the contemporary dance project Ojo by Antonio Ruz and, commissioned by the choreographer Melania Olcina, he composed the soundtrack for the experimental dance video Muller sobre fondo. In 2016 he released his first album Electroflamenco, for which he then developed a live show with guest artists at festivals such as the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla 2020. He also created the music for the dance piece Hilo Roto by La Venidera, for Albert Hernández and Irene Tena, soloists of the Ballet Nacional de España. He was also in charge of the musical creation and live performance of Transmutación by Antonio Ruz.
Ana Cotoré
She began in Zaragoza through competitive rhythmic gymnastics, classical ballet and contemporary dance, and currently focuses her professional activity on the fields of performance, teaching and creation.
In contemporary dance she trains independently in different techniques taught by different professionals, both in Spain and abroad (France, Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Brazil, Italy, South Korea and Cyprus), where she also gives workshops and takes part in artistic processes related to dance, theatre, video-dance, documentary and photography. She also collaborates in the creation and assistant choreography of works by other professionals.
As a dancer and performer, she participates in the Connecting Fingers Company and in the documentary When I Dance (Germany). She is currently working with Grabriella Stazio’s Compagnia Movimento Danza (Italy) and Matarile Teatro (Spain). As a soloist and creator, she participates in different festivals in Spain (Zaragoza, Huesca, Barcelona) and abroad (Berlin, Todi).
