Amèlia Boluda / Ballet Contemporani de Barcelona

The Grec Festival revisits the choreographic memory, reviving a dance show devoted to the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo first performed by the Barcelona Contemporary Ballet in 1993.

This year, 2014, marks the sixtieth anniversary of the death of the artist Frida Kahlo. It is also twenty-one years since the first performance, at the San José Arts Festival in Costa Rica, of Amèlia Boluda’s choreography devoted to the Mexican painter. That performance of Frida, featuring music by Xavier Maristany, was given by Barcelona Contemporary Ballet. This company, established in 1977 and a pioneer in contemporary dance in Catalonia, later took the show to theatres all over South America and Europe in the 1990s. The piece now returns to the stage, revisited from today’s perspective, as part of a project launched by Amèlia Boluda with the support of the Grec Festival to revive artistic and choreographic heritage.  Kahlo’s turbulent relationship with the painter Diego Rivera, her lovers, the revolutionary artists with whom she shared ideals, her pain and vitality are amongst the themes explored in this work. Today, however, the narrative language is fragmented in order to illustrate living conditions amongst Mexican people in the early-20th century, as well as tracing the artist’s life. In this new version, the musicians share the stage with the dancers as they narrate the experiences of a Frida Kahlo who has now become a universal icon.

Production: Grec 2014 Festival de Barcelona and Ballet Contemporani de Barcelona.
In cooperation with Fabra i Coats – Fàbrica de creació.
Direction and choreography Amèlia Boluda
Dancers Xavier Auquer, Darío Barreto Damas, Amèlia Boluda, Bebeto Cidra, Anna Hierro Estorach, Roser López Espinosa, Sara López, Paloma Muñoz, Joan Palau
Music composition Xavier Maristany
Assistant director Bebeto Cidra
Artistic collaboration Carlota Subirós

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