Retrospectiva 25 anys

25 YEARS ÀNGELS MARGARIT / CIA. MUDANCES

In 2010, À.M./cia. Mudances was 25 years old. This marked a long trajectory that we wished to celebrate and share. 25 ANYS MUDANCES (Mudances: 25 Years) proposed a variety of activities showing different perspectives of our work in the area of dance and creation. Our aim was to close a cycle and offer a retrospective look at our career and, at the same time, orient and bring out future projects.

The project was transversal and contemplated formation, transmission, creation, diffusion, and archiving, aiming to serve as a testimonial, to leave a memory of the experience and knowledge we’ve accumulated through the practice of and compromise to the dance, a knowledge that is transmitted from person to person.

We worked with different structures that supported, made visible, and amplified our projects in different fields and places. One of these structures was the Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona, a space that offered a programming of staged events and different activities during the month of November 2010.

Solo hotel room (2010) – site specific:

Riu #102 – Olot – a coproduction with festival PNRM of Olot
Hotel Riu, Olot, 11th and 12th/06/10
Le Meridien Barcelona #712 – a coproduction with Dansalona/Mercat de les Flors
Hotel Le Meridien Barcelona, 25th, 26th, 28th, 29th/08/10

Programme at Mercat de les Flors:

Kolbebasar 2010 – Revival of the show Kolbebasar (1988) – 5th, 6th, 7th/11/10
Corol·la 2010 – Revival of the show Corol·la (1992) – 25th/04/10
Cartografies #1 Blat – Maria Muñoz and Àngels Margarit – Talk – performance – 12th/11/10
Quartet Tèrbola, by Joan Saura, with Quartet Jadin – Concert + vídeocreation by Núria Font from the show Tèrbola (1998) – 13th/11/10
Cartografies #2 AAA – Andrés Corchero, Agustí Fernández and Àngels Margarit – Improvisation – 14th/11/10
Solo por placer (2005) – Performances 17th, 18th/11/10
Larandland (2006) – Performances 20th, 2th1/11/10

other activities:

Educational DVD FlexelF in collaboration with Mercat de les Flors – 17/04/10
Laboratory Kolbebasar in collaboration with La Caldera – Mai 2010
Meeting the public: reading keys of Kolbebasar – 05th/11/10
Urban space action around Kolbebasar – 03th/11/10
Video view L’edat de la paciència (1999) and round table: Visuals – 09th/11/10
Workshop FlexelF – 14th/11/10
Video view El Somriure (2001) and round table: Espaces, architectures 16th/11/10


Laboratory Kolbebasar 2010

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Corol·la 2010

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Solo hotel room: Riu #102 – Olot and Le Meridien Barcelona #712

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Cartografies – Quartet Tèrbola

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Larandland and Solo por placer

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Other activities

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…i, amb una precissió de rellotgeria, ha dibuixat moviments i línies íntimament relacionades amb aquesta estructura musical. Diríeu que música i gest, o gest i música, han nascut simultàniament i que el vessant sonor i el visual són indestriables.

Joaquim Vilà i Folch, Avui – Barcelona, (Spain), 3d March 1988

Das Sommertheater auf Kampnagel hat -endlich- einen Höhepunkt erreicht. Denn wie schon in den Jahren zuvor kohnten bisher die Favoriten zwar begeistern, ihren Theater -und Tanzauftritten fehlte zu guter Letzt aber meist der entscheidende Kick, um die Beifallstürme vollends zu entfachen. Die spanische Tanzgruppe Mudances hat exakt dies am Wochenende geschafft. Ihr Programm Kolbebasar ist ohne Fehl und Tadel: aufregend neu, verblüffend professionell und bestechend schön.

Die Künstlerinnen aus Barcelona verzichten auf ein inhaltsschweres Grundthema. Der Tanz, die Bewegung ist Oberfläche und Hintergrund der Choreografie zugleich. Deren gedanklicher Ausgangspunkt ist eine Frauenstatue des deutschen Bildhauers Georg Kolbe.

Eine Solotänzerin gibt exakte, sehr mechanische Bewegungen vor. Sie werden von ihren Kolleginnen aufgenommen und variiert. Zeitlich versetzt wiederholen sich fast bis in die Unendlichkeit die ersten Figuren. Eine getanzte musikalische Fuge mit zum Schluss gegenläufigen Bewegungen rundet sich zum Gesamtbild ab, um dann mit geändertem Ausgangspunkt einen neuen Anfang zu finden.

Erinnerungen an Schlemmers-Bauhaustänze werden geweckt. Der Basar der Kolbefiguren fasziniert durch absolut präzise Mechanik. Die Tänzrinnen erbringen dabei artistische Kunst-Stücke. In ihrer Perfektion sind sie alle austauschbar, das vielfältige Gesamtbild bleibt einmalig. Nicht umsonst hat die Choreografin von Mudances, Àngels Margarit, vor wenigen Wochen einen der wichtigsten internationalen Tanztheater-Choreografiepreise für Kolbebasar erhalten.

Kornelius Fürst, Bergedorfer Zeitung Hamburg, 30th-31st July 1988

Il séduit, tant la gestuelle est riche, et l’exécution rigoureuse. Un spectacle aussi pensé que danse.

Jean-Pierre Pastori, 24 heures, November 1988

Kolbebasar, sans moyens superflus de décorum, réjouit totalment par l’intelligence de composition, le plaisir et la qualité de l’interpretation, le côté vivant de l’écriture. Jeu de structures abstraites qui composent un puzzle dynamique. Flux de mouvements qui s’échangrnt et se superposent.

Jean-Marc Adolphe, Pour la Danse (nº154) París, January 1989

Nach der spektakulären Tanz-Oper der Gruppe “Roasa”, nach den akrobatischen Kunst-Stücken von Wim Vandekeybus, nach der öden Modern-Dance-Lektion von Karol Armitage gab es nun eine schlichtweg sensationelle Entdekkung auf der “Sommerszene” mi Stadtkino: eine Art Kammer-Tanzabend für sieben Frauen, die Truppe heisst “Mudances”, kommt aus Barcelona, ihre Szenen nennen sich “Kolbebasar”, was mi ersten Teil des Wortes auf eine Skulptur von dem Bildhauer Georg Kolbe verweist, mi zweiten Teil auf die bekannten orientalischen Ladengalerien.

Es entstehen, vor erdbraunen Kulissen, mit zwei variablen blaugrünen kubischen “Dekorations”-Elementen, ganz schlichte, unaufgeregte Lineaturen -aber was ist das für eine Spannung! So atemberaubend präzis wie mi musikalisch-klanglichen Fortgang erfindet Angels Margarit ganz individuelle choreographische “Wendungen”, die sich eine aus der anderen auf das organischste ergeben, so dass man tatsächlich, ohne es zu merken, am Ende einer Sequenz an einen anderen Punkt der Aussage angekommen ist. Nirgends wird die Musik verdoppelt, immer ganz selbstverständlich vertieft, oder, anders formuliert: Man hört mit den Augen und sieht mit den Ohren.

Nach diesem Abend ist man um eine kleine, grosse Stunde schlichtweg reicher. Sie bleibt unauslöschlich wie nur weniges in diesen lauten, lauen Zeiten in Erinnerung.

Karl Harb, Salzburger Nachrichten,Salzburg, 3rd August 1989

Àngels Margarit n’est pas une inconnue en France: son original Kolbebasar avait remporté le grand prix de concours de Bagnolet 1988, on a pu la revoir ensuite au Centre Georges Pompidou -et elle fréquente les scènes internationales. Elle offre à Lyon Corol·la, un solo qui séduit par la belle fludité, l’ample respiration d’une danse basée sur le cercle, la spirale, le tournoiement.

Sylvie de Nussac, Le Monde, Lyon (France), 27th / 28th September 1992

Corol.la a beautiful spiraling pure-dance solo by Àngels Margarit.

Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times, N.Y. (EEUU), 30th September 1992

Un solo de 45 minutos que es un auténtico alarde del talento creativo y de la nitidez y elegancia de movimiento que posee su autora.

Carmen del Val, El País, Barcelona (Spain), 6th February 1993

Si algo tiene el espectáculo de Àngels Margarit es sensibilidad.
Corol·la se suma a los extraordinarios solos que nos ha ofrecido la bailarina a lo largo de su carrera…
Cada movimiento que realiza la bailarina cuenta con la justa dosis de energia que precisa la ejecución, y ello permite que el gesto se extinga de manera suave y controlada, y se dibujen unos fragmentos ricos en acentos y matices que se impregnan de emoción con los ritmos de la evocadora música de Javier Mas y Joan Saura.
La textura de los materiales, la ubicación de los colores, la iluminación llena de claros y oscuros, y los trazos del vestuario también son parte de las cualidades de este sereno y radiante espectáculo, y contribuyen a destacar su delicada sensibilidad.

Montse G. Otzet, El Periódico, Barcelona (Spain), 7th February 1993

Àngels Margarit despliega con su solo toda la riqueza artística que encierra su corazón de bailarina.
Al margen de su reconocida y meritoria labor coreográfica al frente de su grupo Mudances, Àngels Margarit siempre ha destacado en su vertiente de intérprete. Poseedora de un
movimiento limpio de gran intensidad, sabe conjugar la sensualidad femenina con la manifestación de una fuerza interior en un combinado realmente atractivo.
El éxito de su Solo para una habitación de hotel ya ponía de manifiesto cómo un trabajo aparentemente sencillo es capaz de evocar toda una sinfonía de emociones. Exactamente lo mismo cabría decir del solo construido a partir de su Atzavara. Ha sido, pues, una decisión muy acertada y gratificante para el espectador la de seguir desarollando estos solos.

Marjolijn van der Meer, La Vanguardia, Barcelona (Spain), 8 February 1993

Corol·la, és també un prodigiós solo coreogràfic de quaranta-cinc minuts al voltant d’uns motius inicials -la flor en moviment, la rotació, el cercle-…
Corol·la, estèticament, i al marge de la captivadora interpretació de la ballarina, suposa una fusió completament aconseguida entre dansa, arts plàstiques i música.

Xavier Pérez, Avui, Barcelona (Spain), 9th February 1993

And when she whirls, as if spun by some warm, southerly-amber-smelling wind-drift…skirts belling out like poppy-petals, body pliant like stamens, bending yet somehow searching within those air currents- well, at that point, there is pure, untramelled loveliness in the dance of Àngels Margarit.
What endures is the exquisite quality of her dance; she can be staccato, fluid, floor-squirming, raunchy strutting and so much more besides. She is at New Moves and she can be seen tonight. See her and know that Spain is probably the unrecognised shaker and mover in new dance.

Mary Brennan, The Herald, Glasgow (U.K.), 13th February 1993

It is difficult to describe Margarit without getting carried away -the spirit of her dance so beautifully overpowers any objective discussion.
Her movements have the sparkle of dust caught in a sunbeam.
Though there is a striking simplicity to her work, it is one which has been distilled down through a complexity of ideas.
Seamlessly structured and performed with the irresistible combination of sophistication and grace, this piece has the vibrant spontaneity of the flamenco gypsy and will definitely remain one of the highlights of this year’s New Moves.

Alice Bain, Scotland on Sunday, Glasgow (U.K.), 14th February 1993

Last night, it was the turn of Àngels Margarit. I reckon she had won the audience over from the moment she appeared dressed dramatically in black and using just about all the stage in the first few minutes. Her flamboyant style is typical of the vibrancy of Barcelona, shifting from the confident and powerful, to the vulnerable and impish.

Carl Palmer, Manchester Evening News, Manchester (U.K.), 18th Mai 1994

She moves with luscious ease, falling, rebounding, pirouetting on her knees, shoulders, feet, treating the ground as though it were waterl.
She envelops herself in a skein of straw, thrashing around the stage; then frees herself to tease out a single strand as Joan Saura’s cello strings vibrate in sympathy.
The last time I saw her dance a solo was in a hotel room in Montréal. Only a handful of people could watch her 15-minte performance at any one time, sharing with extraordinary intimacy her sense of desolation, isolation, in an impersonal room far from home. In Corol·la she is a different person, serene and sunny, flirtatious, even. Sitting demurely in a square of light, hands folded in her lap, she engages our gaze like an Infanta posing for her portrait.

Jann Parry, The Observer, Londres (U.K.), 25th Mai 1994

Corol.la es un hito importante en la carrera de esta coreógrafa de Terrassa, pues resume y sintetiza toda una manera de entender la danza contemporánea. Sin necesidad de ningún bailarín que le traduzca sus propuestas, elimina el riesgo que la literatura que la literatura define tan bien por el conocido “traduttore, tradittore”.
Pero, de qué nos hace partícipes la señora Margarit? Pues de su personal lectura trascendente o metafísica en la aventura de vivir. Recuperando la componenda mágica del círculo, Margarit emplea para ello imágenes austeras y sencillas, que gracias al pausado tempo que respira ofrecen múltiples sugerencias.
Pero su gran aportación consiste en dar una marca de referencia inequivocamente mediterráneo, significativamente luminosos, contrastado y colorista.

Rosly Ayuso, El Mundo, Barcelona (Spain), 15 March 1997


In the world of the scenic arts, and especially in the world of dance, it becomes very difficult to re-run creations. Underlying reasons include production, obviously, but also the complexity of recovering a language that is so ephemeral and often even desappears.

This notwithstanding, in our celebration we wish to re-perform some of the company’s repertory pieces that have been especially notable. A similar case is that of Kolbebasar, first performed in Figueres in 1988 and later throughout Europe, receiving excellent critical acclaim as well as prizes such as the emblematic Grand Prix du Concours Chorégraphique de Bagnolet, (Paris, 1988).

Kolbebasar is for seven dancers. Its force of composition is such that the spectator is seduced and enthralled by the performance. The music—by Joan Saura and Xavier Maristany—and the choreography write the same score, an abstract game arising out of the living beat of the composition. Today, after more than twenty years, one still finds oneself in this dance in a fully contemporary work. Àngels Margarit will revise the piece with a list of new interpreters but with total fidelity to the original.

The name Kolbebasar is made of two words
Kolbe: George Kolbe, German sculptor one of whose carvings can be found in the German Pavilion Mies van der Rohe, in Barcelona;
Basar: market of various objects.

The choreography is as well the union of different pieces, in a sort of mobile exhibition in which each one is transformed into an outstanding object.
One solo, one duet, one quartet and one sextet which from one same motif develop different constructions are the structure on which this performance is articulated.
Textures of movements which travel or install themselves in space, reflections and symmetries, one image, one (quiet) shape which moves, the continuity of the interruption.

Direction and choreography Àngels Margarit
Dancers Fàtima Campos
Maria Campos
Natalia Jiménez
Isabel López
Roser López Espinosa
Anna Pons
Dori Sánchez
Original music Joan Saura
Xavier Maristany
Scenography Llorenç Corbella
Music performed by Joan Alavedra
Eduard Altaba
Pep Pascual
Xavier Maristany
Marc Miralta
Joan Saura
Costumes Alex Muñoz
Armanda Russell
Lighting Josep Sánchez
Sound Marc Ases
Management team Begonya Companyon
Montserrat Llabrés
David Márquez

Kobebasar 2010 is a coproduction with Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona.
with the collaboration of La Caldera.

Place and date of the premiere

Mercat de les flors (Barcelona)
5th October 2010

In the world of the scenic arts, and especially in the world of dance, it becomes very difficult to re-run creations. Underlying reasons include production, obviously, but also the complexity of recovering a language that is so ephemeral and often even desappears.

This notwithstanding, in our celebration we wish to re-perform some of the company’s repertory pieces that have been especially notable. One such case is Corol·la, premiered in Lyon in 1992, one of the most emblematic

works and one that has been most often staged, appearing in more than thirty cities in Europe and America up until the last presentation in 1999.

Corol·la is a solo that has always been interpreted by Àngels Margarit, and it is perhaps the dance where her essence is to be found in its most concentrated form, revealing those traits that have most configured her highly personal language. The great challenge now proposed by the choreographer is to bring this solo on stage right now in the person of Roser Lopez Espinosa, a dancer with lasting links to the company, and one whose qualities and energies so greatly blend with those of Àngels Margarit herself.

Corol·la is a solo,
a solo is a circle,
un cercle és una espiral,
a circle is a spiral
of images that move away
that move close
an infinite repetition
of oneself
of one’s own fragments.
Tumbling, breaking oneself,
whirling.

Corol·la is a piece based on
matter, instrument
rebeling and crashing
against itself.

Corol·la is a poetic space
where each object has
a secret yet evident
relationship with dance

Corol·la is an impulse
that orders and disorders
the memory of my body .

Àngels Margarit, 1992

Direction and choreography Àngels Margarit
Dancer Roser Lopéz Espinosa
Original music Joan Saura
Javier Mas
Hamza el Dim-Kronos Quartet
Scenography Llorenç Corbella
Pictures Anna MIQUEL
Costumes Lydia Delgado
Irene Julve
Lighting Ferran Capella
Technical team Marc Ases
Núria Navarro
Pere Milan
Management team Begonya Companyon
Montserrat Llabrés
David Márquez

Corol·la 2010 is a coproduction with Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona. and Teatre L’Escorxador, Lleida.
with the collaboration of Teatre La Sala, Rubí

Place and date of the premiere

Teatre Municipal de L’Escorxador (Lleida, Spain)
25th April 2010

Cartografies (Cartographies) is an interdisciplinary project of pieces in different formats, a work based on conversation, exchanges, and collaboration between Àngels Margarit and other artists. Cartografies is a map of relationships that have generated some interesting work or will in future. The formats can be very diverse: laboratories, stage scenery, improvisations, videos, etc. This is a more experimental project, more research oriented, already pointing towards the future. It is a work that develops itself slowly, weaving complicities with the different artists involved.

Cartografies #1 Blat (#1 Wheat). María Muñoz and Àngels Margarit.

This piece is intended as a proposal somewhere between conference, performance, and document. It takes off from Quadre Mallorca (Majorca Painting), the initial fragment of the duet Saó, created by Àngels Margarit and María Muñoz in 1995. It is a staging of about 30 minutes: from a conversation between the two choreographers, the original materials that make up Saó will emerge.

Quadre Mallorca, the heart of the piece, is a path that leads from one interpreter to the other in a Majorcan wheat field, as well as a conversation from the poetic and conceptual imaginary of each interpreter.

Cartografies #2 AAA. A. Fernández, A. Corchero, A. Margarit.

With these two artists Àngels Margarit has found an exceptional and singular link on every occasion they have been able to improvise together. The present Cartografia will be an encounter round the improvisation with the aim of continuing to widen the registers that come of the relationship in creativity of these three personalities.