“Art is a personal action that may be used as an example, but it never has an exemplary value”. Isidoro Valcárcel Medina
Thus we arrive at the fifth edition of Escenas do Cambio. We break away, increasingly, from the notion of a closed scene, from the idea of theatre and dance. In our desire and need to know the sources, we invite the two leading creators of Spain’s avant-garde, Esther Ferrer and Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, to share with us their irreverent, always dissident political actions. Dissidence was the central axis of our previous festival, and this idea of dissent is what we delve into in this new edition.
One must not and should not always start from scratch. And so, following the thread of the concept of dissidence that structured the previous edition, we continue to focus on the lines of work that, in our opinion, have built the identity of the festival. We continue working with communities, in the piece Ifeel4, by Marco Berrettini (with boys and girls); in O gatillo da felicidade (Trigger of happiness) by Ana Borralho and João Galante (with teenagers); And in Esther Ferrer’s piece Os voy a contar mi vida (with deaf people). Once again, we wish to present historical dance and theatre pieces enacted in a present-day space, such as the Three solos by Vera Mantero and Sans titre, by Tino Sehgal.
And we carry on with our special interest in promoting Galician creation, supporting artists who have presented their work in previous editions and have seen their career grow from Escenas do Cambio.
We complete the programming with pieces such as MDLSX, by Motus, Jinete Último Reino by María Salgado and Minor Matter by Ligia Lewis, who delve into a feminist, complex and radical vision of the current reality. François Chaignaud and Alessandro Sciarroni also approach the gender issue, the duality and dissidence with regards to one’s own identity.
We concentrate on an increasingly performative, white-cube and museum format. We continue focused on training and the possibility of encountering a festival with a clear identity in a museum space. In emptiness, in nakedness, words are uttered more clearly, bodies look better, and messages are transparent without being simple. Poor theatre, radical poetry.
Pablo Fidalgo. Art Director of Escenas do Cambio