Second Laboratory of the Project Territory(s), Community(ies), and Artistic Practices: Alejandro Curiel and Gemma Polo with Las Aventureras de La Marina (March-June 2022)
This second laboratory of the project Territory(s), Community(ies), and Artistic Practices aims to continue the open dialogue with Las Aventureras (local women who are part of the Coral de San Cristóbal), but with the intention of expanding to the neighborhood and further weaving connections between the communities living in the La Marina district.
There is a part of our present that questions whether there are new ways to affect, connect, celebrate, love, and support each other, beyond the myths constructed around love. These discourses and practices more or less precisely point to the major structures of our Western, white system: marriage, coupledom, and the capitalist tale of happiness and procreation. However, we like to maintain that by taking care of ourselves, we will be able to take care of others. So, how do I take care of myself? How do I take care of others?
The intention of the dramaturgy work will be to create portraits of each of Las Aventureras using the verbatim technique. Weekly meetings will be held with the community group, and conversations will be recorded. Afterward, a transcription of the content will be made, and from this, the story of these five women will be reconstructed, selecting from all the material the most relevant parts to create an impressionistic picture where their individuality blends to result in a common whole, with no clear boundaries between one story and another.
Territory(s), Community(ies), and Artistic Practices is a collaborative project led by Ateneu Popular 9 Barris, La Central del Circ, and Graner, with the support of the Creation Factories Program of the Barcelona City Council.
Alejandro Curiel and Gemma Polo share a common vision of how to understand the stage. Both have built their own unique names in the contemporary theater scene in Barcelona in recent years. The artists first met at the Institut del Teatre in 2016, after a practice with Andrés Corchero, and then, in 2017, they began a collective adventure with *José y sus Hermanas*, an active theater company with other scenic proposals, now moving toward their fourth creation. In parallel, Curiel and Polo began a more personal and experimental research, engaging with new agents in *Homenatge o Amor a Plutó*.
Alejandro Curiel studied acting at the Escuela de Arte Dramático in Valladolid, completing his training in contemporary dance and visual theater. Once in Barcelona, he continued his work as a performer in the audiovisual world. In 2012, he joined the Institut del Teatre specializing in stage direction. As a scenic creator, he was an artist-in-residence at Sala Hiroshima in Barcelona during the 2015/16 season, where he premiered his first two pieces. In 2017, his third creation, *All by Myself*, was part of the Grec Festival program within the Grec+ context, which AnticTeatre generates to give visibility to young creators. Additionally, in the fall of the same year, he presented a new creation, *P/P (Propiedad Privada)*, co-produced and premiered at the TNT Festival in Terrassa. In winter 2019, he was welcomed by the #FF90 project, a project promoted by Graner, aimed at building a strong community of creators from the same generation.
Gemma Polo Bosch followed the physical/visual theater track at the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. She has participated in productions such as The Show Must Go On by Jérôme Bel at the Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona (2014) and En Lo Alto Para Siempre by Juan Navarro and Gonzalo Cunill (Teatre Lliure, 2020), for which she received the Best New Actress award at the Teatre Barcelona Awards in 2020. She is a member and creator of José y sus Hermanas (Los bancos regalan sandwicheras y chorizos, 2017; Arma de construcción masiva, 2018; Explore el Jardín de los Cárpatos, 2020). She has also worked with the Cía Marionetarium (Herta Frankel Puppet Company, Barcelona) and other visual and street theater groups. She is a singer and composer for the Catalan music group Roba Estesa.
Read more
Read less
