Dilluns Ballables is a unique project that has brought professional dance training to an amateur and non-professional gathering of movers in Sant Pere de Riudebitlles, a small rural town that would normally lack this kind of opportunity.
The project consists in both weekly trainings (that I provide every Monday) and, at least, a quarterly workshop provided by a variety of dance improvisation teachers. The project was awarded the FEM DANSA scholarship (2018 to 2021) from the APdC (Catalan Dance Professionals Association).
Weekly Training
“Danceable Mondays” is the name of the project I initiated in 2016, in St. Pere de Riudebitlles, in order to share and teach the practice of movement improvisation to anyone interested. The large gymnasium of St. Jeroni school was an ideal space, and curious people started to arrive at my classes from villages all around the Penedes-Anoia region.
I am basing my methodology in dance improvisation on my work in the field of the Feldenkrais method, seeking to find the balance between the open experience and the compositional formats.
An outdoor version of the project happened twice; first in June 2020, at the end of the first covid-19 restrictions, when I took the group to the garden of Cal Sans, located on a hill, surrounded by nature, overlooking Mediona; and in June 2021 at the end of the collaborative laboratory Kinoptix, when we worked in the ¨new bridge¨ parc, in St.Pere de Riudebitlles.
This movement community is continually growing and changing and I feel that with these classes, I have created interest, quality, public awareness, and a way of meeting and “doing” together, far away from the “big city” of Barcelona.
Workshops
I started inviting professional dancers/performers to St. Pere de Riudebitlles after a few years of teaching the Monday’s classes alone, in order to enrich the training and open our minds to the large context of the movement improvisation world in Catalunya. These professionals worked with us in different formats such as weekly sessions, weekend labs, and short workshops. From that point onwards, the project became an annual training program.
Many have come to work with us; Constanza Brncic, Amaya Mínguez, Andrea Besavé, Emma Villavechia, Georgia Vardarou, Toni Mira, Andrés Corchero, Paolo Cingolani, Bea Vergés, Miquel Barcelona, Ursa Sekirnik, Teresa Garcia Valenzuela, Federica Porello and the Big Bouncers collective.
I am convinced that, thanks to the dedication of all these great professionals, we’re maintaining our growth, interest, and vitality as a community of movers in a rural environment.
Collaborative Workshops with local artists
Part of the annual training are workshops where I teach in collaboration with local artists, where different disciplines are melted and different points of view are discussed in the preparation process. These collaborations are a fountain of inspiration for me.
- The body of the Haiku with actress Mia Esteve and multi-disciplinary artist Jordi Vigueres.
- ObjectLab with puppeteer Íngrid Domingo.
- Kinoptix with art therapist and performer Montse Morilla, Íngrid Domingo, and Toni Boluda.
