Tag Archives: Compañía Nacional de Danza

35th Anniversary of the Compañía Nacional de Danza

Leave a reply

The Compañía Nacional de Danza has been celebrating its 35th anniversary since last October, when the special commemorative Galas were performed at the Teatros del Canal, in Madrid. Eclectic, diverse and touching performances brought on stage the most relevant pieces of its repertoire, remembering some of the brightest moments of these last decades.

ViolinVallinas

During the weekend of the great celebration, CND was not alone: ​​Company Director José Carlos Martínez, linking both memories and collaboration, invited two dance companies that were bonded to the CND in the past: Ballet Nacional de España -pair company when María de Ávila led both ensembles together- and Víctor Ullate Ballet – Comunidad de Madrid, in recognition to Ullate himself as the first director of the CND when it was founded, back in 1979. Moreover, a full set of costumes from the archives of the company was exhibited in the halls of the theatre.

FFinGenzanoCNDRaymonda Divertimento, Le Corsaire, Flower Festival in Genzano, Violon… all the repertoire performed portrayed the history, past and future of the CND; as a statement to the wonders of dancing, Minus 16 closed the evening. These performances paid tribute to María de Ávila and Tony Fabre -former directors of the CND and CND2 respectively- who passed away recently. It was an intense weekend, full of emotions that have been distilling festive atmosphere over the next months. Tours and new stagings have filled the agenda of the CND. Last January, the latest addition to the repertoire of the CND appeared: Don Quijote Suite.

After the original ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorski, and a later version staged by Rudolf Nureyev for the Paris Opera Ballet, José Carlos Martínez has built a truly Spanish version of the ballet Don Quixote. Toreros, gypsies, and a couple of main characters -performed by Yae Gee Park and Alessandro Riga- filled the stage of the Auditorium Víctor Villegas in Murcia (Spain). Gonzalo Berná conducted the Orquesta Sinfónica Región de Murcia. It meant a big challenge for the CND as the company faced a demanding work for all the members of the company. From the corps de ballet to soloists and principals, they were all involved in the moving story included by Cervantes in one of the chapters of his very famous novel. Another Spanish-scented ballet, Carmen, will be premiered by the CND next April in Madrid.

DonQYaeGeeCND

Past and future are still gathered at the CND, as seen during the open dialogue between Víctor Ullate and José Carlos Martínez at the big stage of the Teatros del Canal last October. Moderated by Elna Matamoros, Ballet Master at the CND and adviser of the Loewe Foundation, the meeting brought more than an hour of cheers and memories, hopes and difficulties. It was the perfect metaphor of the project that José Carlos Martínez has brought back to the Spanish company, to which the Loewe Foundation recognizes as a soulmate and supports as its official sponsor in its artistic activity.

DonQPantomimaCND

 

Photographs: Kayoko Everhart, Lucio Vidal and Sara Fernández in Violon; Noëllie Conjeaud and Moisés Martín Cintas en Flower Festival in Genzano © Jesús Vallinas, 2014 for CND. Yae Gee Park in Don Quijote Suite © Patricio Valverde for CND, 2015. Corps de ballet in Don Quijote Suite © Jesús Vallinas for CND, 2015.

From East to West with Compañía Nacional de Danza

Leave a reply

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.

Ginza2CND

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.

Minus16CND

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.

OmotesandoCNDMoreover, 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.