Beyond the Skin: Ancestry, Diaspora and Dance has been one of the 20 projects selected among the 168 submitted to the Art for Change call promoted by the la Caixa Foundation.
The idea of writing a project like this and participating in such an established selection within the community art panorama was born from a long personal process of searching for the creation of spaces for reflection on structural racism, my experience in contemporary dance and my migration processes.
The project has started with the delivery of a series of free workshops offered by me for the racialized community around body research, sensory anatomy and contemporary dance free of academicisms.
After these meetings, 4 people were selected for the artistic residency and subsequent exhibition of a final piece in which the working group was made up of people who belong to the racialized diaspora community residing in Madrid.
We have had the support of very key people and places for me: Poliana Lima has been the invited artist to provide choreography and dramaturgy assistance, La Parceria was one of the places where the artistic residency was held and Espacio Afro has been ours. reference place and space for the first sample of work in progress before the premiere held at the Pradillo Theater (a reference space for contemporary dance in Madrid).
The visibility of “non-white” bodies – outside of stereotypes and the places where they are supposed to be – and the affirmation of the existence and strength of a racialized community that exudes talent and power have been my main drivers for carrying out the project. .
Having won this call is for me much more than winning a call.
It is a portal.
That more artists from the diaspora can feel represented in spaces of visibility like this and take the step to launch their projects to the world.
