Movement and change inspire the celebration of International Dance Day at UNAM

Mexico City. With the motto Provoking movementas an invitation to move physically and intellectually, and promote changes in our society, the celebration of International Dance Day will be held today at the University Cultural Center (CCU), with the participation of 1,700 artists from Mexico, Colombia and Spain.

The UNAM Choreographic Workshop, the Mexican Folkloric Ballet of Amalia Hernández, the show by the Musas Sonideras collective, as well as the artists Wilder Gómez and la Explosión, appear in the program.

The choreographer and performer Spaniard Juan Domínguez, who will share a sample of the work done with Mexican artists during his artistic residency at Danza UNAM.

This anniversary proposes a broad and diverse exhibition of dance; That is to say, there are many artistic genres that we can enjoy, and the community that gathers at the CCU is very broad, so it is interesting to see people of all ages, from grandparents to grandchildren, dancing on the outdoor stages; It is a very joyful situation.said to The Day, Evoé Sotelo, who with this party dedicated to the art of Terpsichore closes her cycle as director of Danza UNAM.

Transformation times

According to Sotelo, “we are experiencing a moment of change in the highest house of studies, with a new administration and in the country in political matters; Even in the UNAM Dance Directorate itself there is a very important change coming.

For us, these changes imply a new possibility. I feel that this transformation of situations is favorable, because always thinking in the same way or acting within a community always in the same direction keeps us limited, so we must provoke this dynamism, which is where this year’s motto comes from.

Evoé Sotelo added that based on the UNAM Choreographic Workshop and the Gloria Contreras chair, his administration has been attentive to be visible as a space of knowledgeand little by little they have contributed to the notion of what is understood about dance, which is why they also have an editorial project.

The director of Dance UNAM explained that with this celebration, whose activities will begin at 10 a.m., they have proposed “to think of the artistic discipline itself as a space for continuous debate about the moment in which we live, as a space where research is promoted. , experimentation, where it is important for us to dissolve those lines that separate us between disciplines and that also reduce our possibility of thinking about dance and the expressive body within it.

A living space

In these seven years, I have caused dance professionals to connect their work with other disciplinary spaces that have to do with science, technology or philosophy in multiple ways. This has been very enriching and has made Danza UNAM feel like a living space where professionals of this art participate in the actions that happen here, like the professionals in the workshops.

Regarding the programming of International Dance Day, Sotelo explained that there will be 12 continuous hours of activities in which 177 companies will participate.

The stages are the Juan Ruiz de Alarcón theater, the Miguel Covarrubias room and the Dance Hall; the open forums La Espiga, La Fuente, the Julio Castillo garden, the esplanade of the Nezahualcóyotl hall, the garden of the Juan Ruiz de Alarcón theater and parking lot 3.

The public will be able to see various genres, such as classical and neoclassical ballet, flamenco and contemporary dance, ballroom dances, Arabic dance, Mexican folklore, Polynesian dances, as well as urban and performances, in addition to the second Choreographic Composition contest, in which 10 works will participate.

As part of the programming, Evoé Sotelo, Haydé Lachino, Eugenia Cadús and Ana Patricia Farfán will present the book Dance, inheritances and decolonial provocations, third volume of the series Compositions for Dissent: Ibero-American Perspectives on Dance.

In 1982, at the initiative of the International Dance Committee, April 29 was proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as International Dance Day. The date corresponds to the birth of the dancer and choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre.

The complete program of the activities with which the anniversary is celebrated can be consulted on the website