There is no doubt that Spain is a country of Dance. Its cultural diversity is an unquestionable creative engine. Each territory has developed since the dawn of time a dance singularity inherited from its own genetic crossroads of civilizations open to syncretism. Time has facilitated the natural transfer between regions, has fed back and developed a rich, plural and diverse paradigm of movement. This interaction has not been limited to here, but has sought sap in other worlds to connect us to our universal nature.

It is likely that dance, in addition to fulfilling its primary aesthetic and artistic mission, implements another social dimension that goes unnoticed, which lies in the emotional and immaterial fabric of what we are as a country open to the cultural evolution of the world.

The role of choreographic centers

However, despite all the benefits that dance brings to society, there is a very relative and asymmetrical interest in it. One of the evidences lies in the absence of clear policies that define the spaces that welcome the creators, the creation and its specific programming. There are no dance theaters and there are very few choreographic centers dedicated to research, choreographic creation, programming and promotion of creative projects. And those that exist are either private projects that struggle to survive or public centers – very few – that do not find their natural place in the national and universal network of choreographic creation.

These structural dysfunctions, which arise from unripe cultural policy approaches and action orientations that omit the prospect of the future, accentuate the endemic precariousness of an art, certainly sustainable as a fundamental part of the Spanish cultural industry, and above all, constitutes an unavoidable link of our universal belonging.

When Spain moves, the world dances. For this to become a reality, the territorial organization that characterizes our country requires coordinated and orderly action by governments, communities, municipalities and the private sector. The model of the María Pagés Choreographic Center is a clear demonstration that the question is not of economic order, but of vision and will. Our dance deserves a network of choreographic centers capable of meeting the needs of our creators.

 El Arbi El Harti – Director CCMP

 FIRST PANEL 18.00-19.30

The challenges of choreographic art. The Spanish case

It is urgent to consider what prevents the world of dance to consolidate itself as one of the cultural alternatives of the XXI century in the Spanish geography. What are the weak points. In what way it is necessary to involve State, Autonomies, Deputations and City councils to consolidate the now precarious fabric of creation and exhibition of the dance. The French model of choreographic centers… is it the desirable structure? Why do we call it choreographic centers when often they are containers of exhibition?

 SECOND PANEL 19.30-20.30

 New choreographic languages: For which audiences?

Dance is one of the performing arts most ignored by the media and the general public. However, there are plenty of reasons to make it mainstream culture. Today it is exposed to crossbreeding with other dramaturgies, with visual art, electroacoustic or anthropological approaches. An opportunity to attract diverse audiences? The renewal of choreographic codes as a turning point to educate in the classics of the repertoire.