Welcome to the blog of the Loewe Foundation. We are happy to announce that our blog starts a full section for our English-speaking friends and colleagues. Here you will find information about our projects on poetry, dance, photography, architecture and design.
This post is dedicated to the Compañía Nacional de Danza. The Loewe Foundation is the official sponsor of this prestigious dance company since 2013.
These days, CND is performing at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, in Paris. José Carlos Martínez, Artistic Director of the company, will present a modern program that will delight the demanding Parisian audience.

The Compañía Nacional de Danza has travelled through China and Japan during the last months of 2014, showing its most eclectic side. CND succedeed with first-class performances at the Grand Theatre in Wuxi, the Shanghái Cultural Center (China), the Aichi Prefectural Arts Center in Nagoya or the KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre in Yokohama (Japan). The company astonished the audiences with the wide spectrum of dance styles performed.

In China, a classical styled program included Holberg Suite -by choreographer Tony Fabre- and both Raymonda Divertimento and Delibes Suite, created by José Carlos Martínez, Artistic Director of the Spanish ensemble. Tutus, dancing on pointe and a flawless academic virtuosity invaded the shows. In Japan, Itzik Gallili’s Sub, Jirí Kylián’s Falling Angels and William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman showed a company ready to face the demanding dance of the XX century. The skills, energy and versatility of the dancers delighted the audiences.

A very special piece, Minus 16, by Ohad Naharin, was the link between these two shows as concluding the soirées, both in China and Japan. The audiences enjoyed the explosion of this magical choreography created by Naharin, as they were sharing the stage with the dancers themselves; there were real complicity and mutual understanding between the dancers and the audience.

Moreover, José Carlos Martínez met the audience several times through this tour, so the presence of the CND went beyond those actual performances on stage. In China, Martínez was named Dance Adviser at the Central University of China and the company participated in different educational activities, like the ballet clases taught at the Shanghái Ballet School.

The bond between CND and Loewe went even further in Japan; two exclusive performances of the troupe at the Loewe Stores of Omotesando and Ginza (Tokyo) let the dancers take the beautiful Loewe spaces with a work of dancing improvisation specifically created for the ocassion. As in the opening of Apertura, in Madrid, the pairing Loewe-CND offered unique dance pieces; each one of these performances is always different.

For those following these past performances from afar, we want to include some extracts of the last show at the Loewe Store in Madrid, last September. After watching these images, we will wish to have one more show soon.

Photographs: Jessica Llyal and Mattia Russo in Loewe Omotesando © Koji Shimamura, 2014; Minus 16 © Jacobo Medrano for Compañía Nacional de Danza, 2014.