ELENA ZANZU

Note: day 25 the show will be in Catalan, day 26 in Spanish

EZ, which premieres at the Mercat de les Flors, is a project about pain, vulnerability, negotiation, consent and care. It explores the power dynamics and the pact in place  between artist and audience. What happens when a human body is consensually tied and manipulated on stage? What reactions – physical, emotional and cognitive – occur in a person manipulated, in a person who manipulates and in a person who observes the manipulation? Is there space for care? Can we laugh? Is it a ritual? Questioning binarisms such as activity/passivity, domination/submission, man/woman, pain/pleasure, artist/audience, EZ invites the generation of safer spaces. EZ –which means NO in Basque– is an invitation to YES, which is only possible when NO is also an option.

Elena Zanzu (neutral pronoun) is a performer, researcher, dramaturg. Their practical and theoretical interests revolve around gender, disability, ethics, and methodologies of artistic research. They hold a degree in circus arts pedagogy from the Montreal National Circus School, a master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Bologna, and they studied circus dramaturgy at CNAC National Circus Arts Center in France. They has been a research artist with The Circus Dialogues (continued), a research project between circus practice and theory, at KASK University of Ghent. They teach circus and gender at the UAB and are a member of the collective of circus researchers CCCirque.

Not recommended for under 12 years of age

Authorship, direction and performance Elena Zanzu / Dramaturgical accompaniment Carla Rovira Pitarch / Sound space Odil Bright, Adele Madau / Light space Anna Boix Álvarez / Voice off Eloi Martín / Rigging Saar Rombout, Sarah Jeneway
Co-production Mercat de les Flors / Residences La Central del Circ, Espace Périphérique, La Grainerie, La Verrerie, La Caldera, CC Escartín, Cirko, C.I.N.E Sineu, L’Estruch, Spazio Flic / Support Circusnext Laureate 2020-2021, Europa Creativa co-financed platform of the European Union. Beneficiary project of the mechanism Fund for the creation of the cross-border cooperation project De Mar a Mar within the framework of the POCTEFA programme. With the support of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Support from the Claudio Stellato Company.

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