Gender-focused gathering at La Central del Circ – 2023

Picture: open rehersal from Antonia Kuzmanić’s (ROOM 100) work in progress / LA CENTRAL DEL CIRC (october, 2023)

From December 11th to 13th, the Gender-focused gathering took place at La Central del Circ, with the support of the international Speak Out program. This initiative it was driven by the gender commission in collaboration with the La Central del Circ team and coordinated by the artist and researcher Elena Zanzu.

These three days will be dedicated to training, reflection, and debate with the aim of building a network of collective and situated learning around gender and its transversality in the functioning of all activities within the circus practice.

PROGRAM

Monday, December 11th:

10 am to 2:00 pm and 3 pm to 5:00 pm
Gender perspective in performing arts, focusing on the circus. Workshop by Rocío Manzano, from Nus Cooperativa.
Workshop by Rocío Manzano, from Nus Cooperativa.
Room: Staging / Language: CAT/ES

The general objective of the course is to train circus professionals in gender perspective, introducing analytical elements useful in their work. The workshop will delve into:

•   Introduction to gender perspective and its basic concepts.
•   Critical examination of the circus, considering cultural constructions around gender in society and their projection on stage.
•   Creating a space for reflection on the representation of female, male, and non-binary roles in fiction.
•   Challenging the imposed tradition on women, diversities, and sexual dissidents, initiating awareness towards transformation.
•   Studying scenic resources and their role in conveying beliefs.
•   Training in the construction of new feminist plots and references.

5:15 pm to 5:30 pm
Stand up comedy reporting
Monologue by actress and comedian Vidda Priego.
Room: Staging / Language: CAT / ES

Vidda Priego Bueno (Valencia, August 13, 1978) is a Valencian trans non-binary actress, comedian, playwright, and theater educator. They are the author of several monologues in which humor is used to educate about non-binarism.

Tuesday, December 12th:

10 am to  pm
Against gender violence: protocols and institutions
Working session with representatives from Ateneu Popular Nou Barris, L’Escocesa, Sala Beckett, La Central del Circ, and the participation of the Fàbriques de Creació network, moderated by Esther Blázquez, Head of Mediation at La Central del Circ.
Room: Staging / Language: CAT

Reflection and debate that allows us to become aware and identify the violence that crosses us in a structural way and deconstruct the ideas that support them. The purpose of this space is to collectively configure a common language, a shared land that allows us to deepen the margin of differences, as well as open spaces for sensitization towards the creation of other possible imaginaries.

3 pm to 5 pm
Gender violence in performing arts schools in Catalonia
Reflection panel with Cristina García from Col·lectiu Nou Cercle and the Association of Women in Lleida’s Stage, actress and playwright Lara Díez, and researcher Marta Roqueta, moderated by Núria Juanico, journalist from Diari Ara.
Room: Staging / Language: CAT / ES

5:15 pm to 7:30 pm
Gender violence and circus schools: the French case
Taula de reflexió amb format mixte (presencial/online), amb BTC – Balance ton Cirque (online), Typhanie Courteau (online), Rosa Matthis (presencial), moderada per Aurore Dupuy, del Grup Circ i Gènere de CCCirque (Collectif de Chercheur.e.s en Cirque).
Room: Staging / Language: FR / ES

Wednesday, December 13th:

10 am to 2 pm
Gender fugitivity and anti-colonial artistic practices
Workshop by Iki Yos Piña Narváez, from Periferia Cimarronas.

A workshop-conference exploring the invention of the body within the colonial-gender matrix, aiming to experiment with body-epistemic practices. This reflection space invites participants to explore various artistic practices from scenic universes applying escape strategies to bodily invention, challenging Western hegemonic aesthetics and foundations of criticism of whiteness, decolonial studies, and radical black thought.

Iki Yos Piña Narváez is a cimarrona – fugitive. Caribbean, writer, performer, and artist. Researches anti-colonial archives, sexual dissidence, Black memories of the Caribbean, and ancestral spirituality and times. Part of the Ayllu collective, Perifèria Cimarrona cooperative, and the radical black thought experimental group “in the wake” in the Afro space. Contributions include works such as ‘Devuélvanos el oro,’ “no existe sexo sin racialización,” (h)amor trans, Futuro Ancestral, among others. Creations are part of the Reina Sofia Museum Collection, and participation in events like the Sydney Biennale (2020), the Arts Triennial in Brazil (2021), Kochi Biennale in India (2022), and recent exhibitions like “El territori està intacte,” space 13 Fundació Miró 2023 (Barcelona), Sao Paulo Biennale 2023 in Brazil, and Anti Futurisme Cimarrón with Ayllu Collective at Virreina Centre de la Imatge.

Periferia Cimarronas is a space of political affectivity and black love. It is a solidarity economy project, a cooperative supported by black people, afro-descendants who are certain that culture is a form of transformation. We believe that a space is feasible to imagine possible futures as a community.

Room: Staging / Language: ES

3 pm to 5 pm
Gender and the technical sector
Reflection panel with Sarah Jeneway (rigger), Manoly Rubio Garcia (light technician), Betty Cau (scenographer), and Montserrat Borrego (sound technician), moderated by Marieta Rojo, lighting technician.
Room: Staging / Language: CAT / ES

5:15 pm to 5:30 pm
Graphic report
A càrrec de l’artista gràfica Fanny Didou.

5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Aperitif
Informal meeting space