GELABERT AZZOPARDI companyia de dansa

Artistic directors Cesc Gelabert / Lydia Azzopardi

LA MUNTANYA AL TEU VOLTANT (The mountain around you)

Coreography / direction Cesc Gelabert Stage design Perejaume

Original music Borja Ramos / Carles Santos Additional music Francesc Cassú,Tomas Gil i Membrado, Pep Ventura Played by Banda Municipal de – Institut de Cultura de Barcelona Conductor Juan Miguel Romero Band’s technical director Joan Xicola Orchestration José Ramón Gutiérrez (B. Ramos i sardanes), Xavier Piquer (C. Santos), Francesc Cassú (F. Cassú) Recording engenier Juanan Ros Music production Borja Ramos

Costumes / styling Lydia Azzopardi Lighting design Sam Lee

Dancers Dani Corrales, Samuel Delvaux, Cesc Gelabert, Virginia Gimeno, Tura Gómez, Jonatan de Luis Mazagatos, Ingrid Magriñá, Salvador Masclans, Núria Navarra, Lorena Nogal, Alberto Pineda, Charles Washington

With the participation of 12 sardana dancers

Set construction Carles Pujol Taylor Olaf Carlshon Carpets recreació de Perejaume de petits fragments de dibuixos de l’Avi Vila (Joan Vila Arcelos) Photos Ros Ribas

Assistants to the choreographer Toni Jodar, Sarah Taylor Teachers J. Herbert A. Lacalle E. Maycas A. Sánchez Technical director Conxa Pons Technical crew Conxa Pons, Israel Quintero Costume assistants Georgina Misser, Ana Sabina Vergara Transport Xoriguer

Production / distribution Maria Rosas Communication / coordinator Montse G. Otzet Accountant Xavier Vigas

Co production Grec 2011 Festival de Barcelona – Institut de Cultura, Ajuntament de Barcelona / Gelabert Azzopardi

With the collaboration of Fira Mediterrània de Manresa And the support of Teatre - Auditori Sant Cugat and Institut Municipal d’Acció Cultural de Mataró

Thanks Tere Almar , Jaume Ayats, Sebastià Bardolet, Anna Costal, Marc Mateu, Albert Sans, Unió de Colles Sardanistes de Catalunya.

Duration 70’ without intermission

Premiered 17th. of June 2011 at the Grec Theatre, Barcelona

Musical score Obertura (Borja Ramos) Contrapàs (Borja Ramos / Popular)

Preludi a la primera part (Borja Ramos) Sardana La sonàmbula (fragment) (Pep Ventura) Interludi I (Borja Ramos) Sardana Catalina (Pep Ventura) Sardana De nit al pont de Sant Agustí (Francesc Cassú) Interludi II (Borja Ramos) Sardana La flama de la sardana (Tomàs Gil i Membrado) Sardana Gelabert (Carles Santos)

Preludi a la segona part (Borja Ramos) Sardana Groc (Borja Ramos) Suite, part I (Borja Ramos) Suite, part II (Borja Ramos) Suite, part III (Borja Ramos) Suite, final (Borja Ramos)

Bibliografia sobre la sardana http://sardanes.plisweb.com/

“Presence and the present: these are enigmas born of the movements you have made throughout your life. The movement of one person brushes against the movement of others, creating both collective and individual presences.

La muntanya al teu voltant is a production which in essence revolves around one of the mysteries that fascinates me most as a dancer and choreographer: the presence of the dancer and his or her relationship with the choreography and the group. Just as a tree is an individual entity or part of a forest, presence is something personal or the result of interrelationship with others.

Within this context, La muntanya al teu voltant makes reference to an example of collective presence steeped in history, part of my culture and also a dance form: the sardana. A historical testimony, little known and ill understood, which begins with the meetings of the Inquisition, continues with the dance known as the contrapàs and the short and the long sardana, and runs up to the present day.

How can you be surrounded by and in the centre of a mountain? How can you be at once the abyss and the gaze?”

Cesc Gelabert

“Again I see the mountains like men walking. I balleted with the valley-sculpting mountain. Deep as the sea, the mountain slowly drew circles around me.” Perejaume Passage from Pagèsiques

In La Muntanya al teu voltant (The Mountain around you) Cesc Gelabert renews his working relationship with Perejaume, an artist with whom he collaborated during the 1980s and one that he has long wished to include in a project once again. As in the case of so many other productions, the costumes have been designed by Lydia Azzopardi, while the lighting designer is Sam Lee, who has also worked with the company before.

The music has been created by Borja Ramos, a contributor to some of the company’s recent works, and it includes a fragment by Carles Santos, composed especially for this choreography. The music is completed by some orchestral versions of traditional Catalan themes.

The work is performed by twelve dancers from the company,including Cesc Gelabert himself.

The recorded music is played by the Banda Municipal de Barcelona, conducted by Juan Miguel Romero. This is the second time that Gelabert Azzopardi has collaborated with the Municipal Band, following the presentation of Belmonte at the Teatre Lliure de Barcelona in September 2010.

Also taking part in the production are twelve members of sardana dance groups which also collaborated with the company in the choreographic laboratory at the Manresa Mediterranean Fair in 2010.

CESC GELABERT Barcelona choreographer / dancer

Gelabert is one of the most influential Spanish choreographers and dancers of the moment. An emblematic and highly versatile artist, he has made a notable contribution towards the creation of a dance culture in . Dancer choreographer and director. Cesc Gelabert was born in Barcelona (, Spain). He began his dance studies in 1969 when a girlfriend brought him into contact with Ana Maleras’s studio, where she was taking classes. Soon he was a part of Maleras’s group, studying jazz, contemporary and other techniques, while starting to experiment with his choreography. His dedication to football continued, and every weekend he would still play as captain of his team. Simultaneously, he was studying architecture for some years at the University in Barcelona, eventually giving up to become a dancer.

Gelabert’s early dance training was with Anna Maleras, joining her group in 1969. In 1972, Gelabert created his first choreography, followed by his first solo Accio 0 (1973) collaborating with artist Frederic Amat. Accio 1 (1976) in collaboration with his sister Toni Gelabert and F. Amat performed at Sala Vinçon and Teatre Lliure, Barcelona and other venues. He continued performing some evenings in cabaret, and taking jazz and contemporary classes with guest teachers. His favourite teacher being Matt Mattox, with whom he took classes in London.

Returning to Barcelona he formed his first dance group, whose début production was entitled Ver-estiu-altumne-ivern-1, a work for seven performers. 1976 was the year of his first performance at the Teatre Lliure.

In 1978 he decided to go to New York, enabling him first-hand contact with the New York dance scene. He decided to stay for two years. While working during the day doing various jobs, in the evenings he started creating group works with postmodern dancers, and new solos for himself. My Old Corduroy Suit was to be his first New York solo, and was presented at the Kitchen theatre, to good reception, enabling him to be an active member of the New York dance community. In 1980, returning to Barcelona, he began to collaborate with dancer Lydia Azzopardi, performing throughout Spain and festivals in France and Italy. Their early base was La Fàbrica, a significant dance venue in Barcelona, directed by Toni Gelabert and Norma Axenfeld. 1985 Gelabert Azzopardi founded the company, presenting Desfigurat , their first dance production for a large stage. The company was firmly established and based in Barcelona. Simultaneously, Fabiá Puigserver, the founder and director of Teatre Lliure, invited the company to become associates, enabling Gelabert Azzopardi to co produce with the theatre, and present the works for extended periods of time. Gelabert Azzopardi Companyia de Dansa has been the resident dance company of Teatre Lliure Barcelona, since 2003 until 2012.

1987 and 1988 two more works were created and shown at the Lliure, Verdi’s Requiem and Belmonte, to comissioned score composed by Carlos Santos; with whom Gelabert had collaborated with in New York. Stage design and costumes by Frederic Amat.

Both these works became emblematic pieces in the history of dance in Spain. The Company toured extensively in Spain and major International Festivals in , America and Asia.

Cesc Gelabert developed an idiom closely in the association of a very personal style and a powerful presence as a soloist, performing internationally. As the company expanded, the choreographic language acquired a homogenous style. The dancers were recruited from different backgrounds, with solid technical preparation. The vocabulary being pure dance form. In conjunction with the company, Gelabert continued creating solos for himself, collaborating with artists from all medias. During the late eighties, while performing at Festival Aix en Provence, he met Nele Hertling, director of Hebbel Theater, Berlin. This was to be the beginning of a long and extensive relationship of the Company as co-residents with the Hebbel Theater, until 2003.

During this long period between Barcelona and Berlin, he met and discovered the work of German choreographer, Gerhard Bohner. There was a bonding, both being solo performers, and both having seen each other’s work. After Bohner’s death in 1992, Gelabert decided to take the task of learning Im Goldenen Schnitt I /II from Cosima Santoro’s video footage, and to perform the two solos.

Im Goldenen Schnitt I was soon being presented on international stages in major festivals, to successful acclaim. Undeniably, the result of this combination of Bohner’s choreography and Gelabert’s interpretation made the performance a singular and unforgettable experience. Im Goldenen Schnitt I is still being performed.

Schwarz Weiss Zeigen, another Bohner solo, reconstructed in 2010 by Gelabert, and is presently being performed internationally.

Ki a coproduction of Grec 2010 Festival de Barcelona and Yachiyoza Centenary Committee of Yamaga, Japan, for the Japanese Panorama. Gelabert co directed and performed in collaboration with Frederic Amat.

La muntanya al teu voltant, 2011 a company piece of twelve performers with twelve Sardana dancers. This production inaugurated the Grec Festival de Barcelona as coproduction.

Cesc Gelabert has created In a Landscape a solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov. Other comissions have been for David Hughes , Balletto di Toscana, Tanztheater Komische Oper, Ballet Gulbenkian, Larumbe Danza and Hermès. He has also collaborated with stage celebrities and artists in many productions, such as Fabià Puigserver, Núria Espert, Jorge Lavelli, Montserrat Caballé, Milva, Gerardo Vera, Pilar Miró, Lluis Pasqual, Emilio Sagi, Carles Santos, Frederic Amat, Mario Gas, Julia Migenes Johnson, José Maria Sánchez-Verdú, Kanjuro VII, Lorenzo Mariani, Giancarlos del Monaco, among others.

LYDIA AZZOPARDI U.K. costumes designer / styling

Dancer, choreographer and teacher, Lydia Azzopardi is a designer and a stylist. She began studying classical ballet, and during 1972 - 1976 completed her training in contemporary dance at the London Contemporary Dance School. She toured Great Britain with the L. C. D. School Dem. Group, performing choreographies by Robert North, Robert Cohan, Jane Dudley, Janet Smith and Anna Sokolow, among others.

From 1977 to 1979, Lydia Azzopardi was a resident teacher of contemporary dance at Maurice Béjart’s school, MUDRA, in Brussels; she also taught in Zurich and Rome, where she collaborated as a choreographer with the Lindsay Kemp Company.

Ms.Azzopardi has also taught composition and improvisation courses in various European cities. Since 1980, she has designed many of the costumes for Gelabert Azzopardi , other international companies such as Balletto di Toscana, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin,Tanztheater Berlin, Gulbenkian Ballet Lisbon and Gelabert’s solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov. She has collaborated in video, inaugration events, and a variety of stage productions. Ms.Azzopardi was given the City of Barcelona Award 2005 and Sebastiá Guasch 2006 Theatre Award of FAD, for costume design of Psitt!! Psitt!! Caravan .

BORJA RAMOS Barakaldo composer

As a composer, Borja Ramos has worked mainly in the field of contemporary dance. He has composed music for choreographies by Damián Muñoz, Gelabert-Azzopardi, Germán Jauregi, 10 & 10 Danza, Víctor Ullate Ballet, Asier Zabaleta, Natalia Medina, Idoia Zabaleta, Larumbe Danza and Blanca Arrieta, among others.

Together with the composer Bingen Mendizabal, he wrote music for the soundtracks of the films “Frágil”, by Juanma Bajo Ulloa, and “Nos miran”, by Norberto López Amado. Also working under Mendizabal, he created the electronic sets for the soundtracks of “Kamchatka”, by Marcelo Piñeiro, “El arte de morir”, by Álvaro Fernández-Armero, and “Skin Deep”, by Sacha Parisot. In addition, he has collaborated with the Basque singers Mikel Urdangarin, Mikel Laboa and Ruper Ordorika. As a composer of contemporary music has written original pieces for instrumental ensembles as well as electroacoustic works. He has also worked with Sigma Project, the Krater Ensemble and the Ensemble Espacio Sinkro.

His creations have been presented at festivals and institutions in France, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Holland, the United Kingdom, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Canada, USA and Japan.

CARLES SANTOS Vinaròs composer

He is a pianist, composer and multi-faceted artist. He graduated from the Higher Music Conservatory at the de Barcelona. He continued his studies in Paris and later in Switzerland. In 1961 he started to perform as a pianist, playing works by Bartók, Schönberg and Webern. In 1968 he moved to the United States, where he met avant-garde musicians such as John Cage. In the 1970s he founded, together with Josep Maria Mestres-Quadreny, the Grup Instrumental Català (GIC). He has worked in cinema with Pere Protabella, as composer, actor and scriptwriter. He created the Companyia Carles Santos with Mariaelena Roqué presenting his work as author, composer and director at international theatres and festivals. In addition to his musical, cinematographic and stage production, Carles Santos is also creator of a significant body of work in the plastic arts, mainly photography. He has received various prizes and awards, such as the National Prize for Composition awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya (1990); the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for Music (1993); the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for International Projection (1996); and the Sant Jordi Cross (1999), Spanish Nationale Music Award (2008). He has also received several Max Prizes for his stage shows.

PEREJAUME Sant Pol de Mar visual artist / writer

An artist and writer. He began to exhibit his pictorial work in the mid-1970s, but soon embarked on new forms of expression, such as texts, performances, photographs and videos. Nature is a recurring theme in his work, because it offers him the opportunity to examine a wide range of issues. He establishes a rich dialogue between the representation of landscape and landscape itself, between the protected space of the museum and the world outside it. He dismantles the elements of pictorial art to show that they are primarily material and to move this art closer to nature. He cuts through the artifices of artistic tradition to develop a poetic discourse which draws him closer to his homeland. This creative direction includes the consideration of the Catalan language as an inherent part of the same things, which explains why Perejaume is able to cross the fragile boundary between plastic and literary creation with ease. He has published several books of essays and poetry. Permanent examples of his work can be found at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Torrente de Folgueroles and Erasmus House in Brussels. He exhibits regularly. In 1999, he brought together much of his work at the MACBA under the title of: Deixar de fer una exposició (Stop doing exhibitions). In 2003, he published Obreda. In 2005, he received the National Visual Arts Award from the Department of Culture of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, and in 2006, the Plastic Arts Award from the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

SAMANTHA LEE Charing (Gran Bretaña) lighting design

Living in Barcelona since 1989 she has worked in a variety of media, covering theatre, television and corporate work. She first collaborated with Gelabert-Azzopardi in 1994 with Armand Dust/Sed 2 in the Hebbel Theater in Berlin, following on to work on various other pieces included the acclaimed ZumZum·Ka. She has worked for other Spanish companies including La Fura del Baus (Opera Mundi), and Carles Santos (L’esplèndida vergonya del fet mal fet, Figasantos FagoTrop, La Pantera Imperial, Ricardo i Elena, and Chica Montenegro Galleri). In 2010 she lit the show Ki for the festival del Grec de Barcelona, working again with Cesc Gelabert and Frederic Amat.

THE COMPANY

Since Desfigurat (1985) Cesc Gelabert has created over twenty-five company works and various solos for himself. The company developed its activities as an international contemporary dance company, based in Barcelona. The company has been associated with Teatre Lliure, Barcelona since 1987 and since 2003 until 2012 is the resident company, co producing and presenting the new productions.

Hebbel Theater, also was a major co producer and partner during a long and fruitful period; enabled the company to realize many projects, and introduce the works of Gelabert to Berlin. Gelabert Azzopardi has functioned as an autonomous and independent structure, receiving support and funding from the Catalan Autonomous Government, the City of Barcelona, and the Ministry of Culture, Madrid. Gelabert sets the style by his personal vision of movement. His concepts are adapted and worked on the dancer, without losing the personal identity of the performer. In selecting the dancers, the performers are recruited from different backgrounds with a strong technical vocabulary. Gelabert lays emphasis on the authenticity of movement and interpretation. The choreographies are based on and inspired by various themes. They do not tell a linear story. The company has earned a high reputation through the years, and therefore has achieved large and diverse audiences. The aim is to create quality, and bring dance to the widest audiences possible.

AWARDS

1983 Premi Nacional de Dansa de Catalunya. ( National Dance Award of Catalonia) 1987 City of Barcelona Award for Verdi’s Requiem 1992 2003 DAAD (/Deutsches Akademischer Austauschdients) residence scholarship Berlin. 1994 The Gold Medal of Merit of Fine Arts from the Spanish Government. 1996 National Dance Award , Madrid 1997 National Dance Award of Catalonia 1998 FAD Medal (Promotion for Decorative Arts).Barcelona 2000 MAX Award for the Performing Arts for ZUM ZUM KA for best dance show of the year and choreography. 2004 The Herald Archangel critics award Edinburgh International Festival for Arthur’s Feet, Viene regando Flores…and Glimpse. 2005 MAX Award for the Performing Arts presented to Gelabert for best male dancer 2004 2006 City of Barcelona Award 2005 for Psitt!!Psitt!! 2006 MAX Award for the Performing Arts presented to Gelabert as best male dancer 2005 2006 FAD Award Aplaudiment Sebastià Gasch 2005-2006 presented to Lydia Azzopardi for Psitt!! Psitt!! and Caravan costume design 2007 Public Performing Arts Prize best dance show presented in Tarragona 2006 to Psitt!! Psitt!!-Viene regando flores desde la Habana a Morón 2011 Iniciaties Renovadores Award from l’Obra del Ballet Popular y la Federació Sardanista de Catalunya 2011 Premi Butaca Best Dance Schow for Belmonte 2011 Aisge Actúa Prize to Cesc Gelabert for artistic career.

PRODUCCIONES GELABERT AZZOPARDI ARCHIVE (1986-2012)

1986 DESFIGURAT 1987 REQUIEM DE VERDI City of Barcelona Award 1988 BELMONTE 1991 BELMONTE (II) 1991 EL SOMNI D’ARTEMIS 1992 KAALON-KAAKON 1993 AUGENLID 1994 EL JARDINER 1995 ARMAND DUST I 1996 ARMAND DUST II and THIRST 1998 ZUMZUM·KA MAX Award for the Performing Arts 2000 USELESS (Information meets boy) KINEMA 2002 8421.. 2003 VIENE REGANDO FLORES DESDE HABANA A MORÓN. MAX Award for the Performing Arts 2005 PSITT!! PSITT!! CARAVAN City of Barcelona Award / FAD Award Aplaudiment Sebastià Gasch 2007 ORION 2008 UNA SEMANA CON EL PUBLICO 2009 SENSE FI / CONQUASSABIT 2010 BELMONTE (1988) reconstruction 2011 LA MUNTANYA AL TEU VOLTANT 2012 TRANÇ

SOLOS / CESC GELABERT ARCHIVE (1982-2012)

1982 BUJARALOZ 1984 SUSPIROS DE ESPAÑA 1989 VASLAV 1990 POPS AMB POTES DE CAMELL 1990 NINETY-NINE BLOWS 1994 MURIEL’S VARIATION 1996 – 1999 IM GOLDENEN SCHNITT I / II, coreografía Gerhard Bohner. Reconstrucción e interpretación Cesc Gelabert. 2002 PRELUDIS 2004 GLIMPSE 2010 SCHWARZ WEISS ZEIGEN, coreografia Gerhard Bohner. Reconstrucción e interpretación Cesc Gelabert 2012 CESC GELABERT V.O. +

OTHER PRODUCTIONS (2010)

2010 KI Cesc Gelabert / Frederic Amat. Coproducción Grec 2010 Festival de Barcelona y el Yachiyoza Centenary Committee

CREATIONS FOR DANCE COMPANIES ARCHIVE (1995-2006)

1995 HORTENSIA Balletto di Toscana 1996 LUCRECIA STOP Tanzheater Komischer Oper, Berlín 1999 FOUNTAIN OF LOVE FRANK ZAPPA TRIBUTE Balletto di Toscana 2001 HÈRMES Madrid, proyecto para la firma de moda 2002 CHARMES Ballet Gulbenkian 2003 IN A LANDSCAPE Solo para Mikhail Baryshnikov. (USA) 2004 THE MEASURER Solo para David Hughes. (U.K.) 2004 ARTHUR’S FEET Espectáculo para bailarines escoceses, con dificultades de aprendizaje, y los bailarines de Gelabert Azzopardi. Festival Internacional de Edimburgo 2004 TRAUM TEXT Solo en colaboración con la compositora Helga Pogatschar 2004 DÚO para Larrumbe Danza 2006 TIRARSE A LA PISCINA Solo para Larrumbe Danza

CHOREOGRAPHIES FOR THEATRE ARCHIVE (1985-1987)

1985 SALOME Oscar Wilde. (Teatro de Mérida) Director: Mario Gas 1987 EL PÚBLICO F.G. Lorca. (Piccolo Teatro, Milan / Teatro de La Zarzuela. Director: Luis Pasqual

CHOREOGRAPHIES FOR OPERA ARCHIVE (1985-2008)

1985 LA VERA STORIA. Luciano Berio (París Opera/Teatro Communale, Florence) Director: Luis Pasqual 1985 SALOMÉ. Richard Strauss (París Opera/ Zurich Opera) Director: Jorge Lavelli. 1987 MEPHISTOPHELES. Arrigo Boito (Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid/ Gran Teatre Liceu, Barcelona. Director: Emilio Sagi 1989 CRISTOBAL COLÓN. L. Balada (Gran Teatre Liceu, Barcelona) Director: Tito Capobianco. 1990 MANON LESCAUT. G.Puccini (Gran Teatre Liceu, Barcelona) Director: Lorenzo Mariani. 1992 MACBETH. G. Verdi (Reggio Emilia, Italy) Director: Lorenzo Mariani. 1994 DER FREISCHUTZ. C.M. Von Weber (Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid) Director: Pilar Miró 1995 LE ROSSIGNOL. I.Stravinsky (Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid) Director: Simon Suárez. 1998 AÏDA. G.Verdi (Gran Theatre Shangai) Director: Lorenzo Mariano 2000 KURT WEILL (Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid) Director: Gerardo Vera 2001 SALOME R.Strauss (Teatro Campoamor, Oviedo, Spain) Director: Emilio Sagi 2001 OEDIPUS REX I. Stravinsky (Festival de Granada, Spain) Director: Frederic Amat 2007 EL VIAJE A SIMORG José M. Sánchez-Verdú (T. Real, Madrid) Director: Frederic Amat 2008 MEFISTÓFELES Arrigo Boito (Teatro Massimo Palermo) Director: Giancarlo del Monaco

Festival de Barcelona

Company subsidirez by

With the support

Maria Rosas production / manager [email protected]

Montse G. Otzet communication / coordinator [email protected]

Tel:+ 34 93 416 00 68 Fax: +34 934160193

Tel: + 34 93 416 00 68 www.gelabertazzopardi.com