The dance extends through metropolitan cities invading architectural jewels

The sixth edition of Dansa Metropolitana arrives, a festival that aims to reclaim this art by highlighting the richness of municipal cultural facilities beyond Barcelona. With a program consisting of more than 300 activities, the shows can be seen in 12 cities, double the number that started this project in 2018. "The program is very spread out, ensuring that there are more activities outside Barcelona, even the most powerful ones," says Giulia Poltronieri, spokesperson for Dansa Metropolitana, "that is our will: without forgetting that Barcelona is fundamental, we want to open dance to the rest of the municipalities." As proof of its success, Poltronieri gives the example of the city she represents, Terrassa, stating that in the city dance had almost no presence until the arrival of the festival.

Badalona, Barcelona, Cornellà de Llobregat, El Prat de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Granollers, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sabadell, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Terrassa and Viladecans are the cities that make up the new edition of Dansa Metropolitana, which begins this Thursday and will last until March 26. For now, Poltronieri emphasizes, they are not considering incorporating more municipalities, even though there are many interested parties: "We are at a moment of redefining the model, since collective programming is not easy and we have reached the limit of management." There are not many cultural initiatives like this at a European level, underlines the spokesperson, with a similar case in Porto and two nearby cities, also dedicated to dance. The future of the Barcelona festival involves maintaining the same level of programming in all participating cities or defining some as the hard core of the project and others that provide support. "It's a question of sustainability," Poltronieri summarizes.

The organizers hope that this year the pandemic will be completely left behind, after the previous edition was still affected by fears of contagion and also by bad weather, forcing the cancellation of many of the activities that take place in the street. Despite everything, they received more than 60,000 spectators, with an occupancy of 75%, totaling 174,000 attendees since the festival began. According to Poltronieri, this edition will further improve the figures achieved in 2022, a feeling she has confirmed with the return to theaters in Terrassa and shared by her colleagues from other municipalities such as Viladecans.

As main protagonists of the sixth edition of the metropolitan dance festival, classical dance proposals will stand out, with the presence of international ballets such as Acosta Danza and Béjart Ballet Lausanne, which can be seen at the Factoria Cultural de Terrassa; (La)Horde - Ballet National de Marseille, at the Mercat de les Flors; and the Ballets Jazz de Montréal, at the Teatre-Auditori de Sant Cugat. "We owed more space to classical dance," remarks Poltronieri, recalling that ballets started with little weight in the festival and have been gaining it year after year. It was expected to have the Ballet de Lyon, but it was a last-minute cancellation.

Latin America will also be very present in Dansa Metropolitana 2023, which will bring together a total of 11 foreign productions. In addition to Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta, Chilean Marco Layera and his company Teatro La ReSentida will participate, at the Teatre Lliure; Brazilian Poliana Lima, at the Mercat de les Flors; Argentine Marina Otero, at the Teatre Joventut de L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, and also Argentine Josefina Gorostiza, who will be at the Teatre Principal de Terrassa with a co-production of the festival that brings Bach's cantatas to the present.

Beyond international ballets and Latin American artists, another language that has made a place for itself in the program is flamenco, the great protagonist of last year's edition. Rocio Molina will present her Trilogy on the Guitar at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC), and Maria Moreno will bring a work on the flamenco soleá to the Teatre Zorrilla de Badalona, also a co-production of Dansa Metropolitana. As contemporary proposals, the cathartic rave by Gisèle Vienne in Crowd, which can be seen at the Mercat de les Flors, and Adrián Vega with Los lunares del Puma, at La Caldera.

As every year, the cultural festival will present a new project shared by the different participating cities. This time, dance will be brought to architectural gems such as the CACI factory in Badalona, the Gustau Gili publishing house and the Mercedes factory in Barcelona, Can Bagaria in Cornellà, the Espai Baronda in Esplugues, Plaza Josep Barangé in Granollers, Vapor Codina and Plaza Bosch Gimpera in Sabadell, the ETSAV student residence in Sant Cugat, the gardens of the Auditori Can Roig i Torres in Santa Coloma and the Masia Freixa in Terrassa. "We want to see how the body and dance can connect with the lines of architecture," Poltronieri defends. The artistic interventions will be free and will be accompanied by guided tours of the spaces.

The program is completed with street shows, also free, with about seventy performances in parks, gardens, squares and civic centers. Some examples will be Wild by Motionhouse, which will be seen on the Rambla de la Marina in L'Hospitalet, the Plaza de la Església in Cornellà, and the Parque Catalunya in Sabadell, or Fake you by Clàudia Mirambell, at Roca Umbert - Centre d'Arts en Moviment in Granollers, Can Trinxet in L'Hospitalet and the Centre Cívic Barceloneta. The grand finale will be on March 25, with an entire day dedicated to dance in the Plaza del Polideportivo del Centre de L'Hospitalet, where fifteen different pieces will be presented.