Dansa Metropolitana focuses on classical style

The eighth edition of the Dansa Metropolitana festival, which covers twelve municipalities in the metropolitan region of Barcelona from March 13 to 30, will make a “special commitment to classical and neoclassical dance” with the aim of “expanding stylistic diversity and reaching new audiences, maintaining a balance with contemporary and urban dance,” the organization explained on Tuesday during the presentation.

For the first time, the Gran Teatre del Liceu will be one of the festival's stages. It will host one of the classical dance performances, Semaris/Don Juan by the Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse.

Eclectic program with free proposals

“The programme is very eclectic. Many of the proposals are free, on the street,” said the artistic coordinator of Dansa Metropolitana, Giulia Poltronieri. “We have a very well-established audience in the halls,” she added from the Espai Corberó in Esplugues de Llobregat, where the presentation took place. On this occasion, the festival will once again perform in the metro, a means of metropolitan transport, as it did before the Covid pandemic.

The programme includes projects of international scope, such as SED or Mette Ingvartsen, among others. But also artists from the national sphere, such as Israel Galván or Rosa Romero. “Perhaps this year we have a little less international presence,” Poltronieri acknowledged. In total, there are 15 foreign proposals.

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On the other hand, Dansa Metropolitana presents nine co-productions that "have a life beyond the festival, giving wings to the sector", according to Núria Segovia, Culture technician at Sant Cugat del Vallès City Council. The proposals are agreed upon by the different participating municipalities, which are Badalona, ​​Barcelona, ​​Cornellà de Llobregat, El Prat, Esplugues, Granollers, l'Hospitalet, Sabadell, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Terrassa and Viladecans.

The festival will kick off on 14 March in Cornellà de Llobregat with Sylphes , an aerial ballet with music by Vivaldi, which is coming to Catalonia for the first time. “We want to bring dance to the general public,” said Penépole Cañizares, Culture Officer at Cornellà City Council.

This year, the festival is launching a “cross-cutting project” called Vibracions, which will be the “common thread” of Dansa Metropolitana. It aims to connect the world of dance with local communities through the collaboration of schools and music professionals.

The Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, has claimed that Dansa Metropolitana is already “the most important dance festival in Spain and the second in Europe”. The Mayor of Esplugues, Eduard Sanz, has stressed that the initiative is “an example of networking and institutional collaboration”. “Dansa Metropolitana is a fully consolidated event”, said the deputy for Culture of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Aïda Llauradó.