CATA 7 TEARS

Artist: Ana Luján and Toni Aparisi with the collaboration of Suso33
When: Wed, 29/09/2010
Event Times: 8pm
Venue: The Place, 17 Duke’s Road, London WC1H 9PY

CATA7lagrimas_net

Contemporary dance show by Ana Luján and Toni Aparisi.
Set design by Suso33.
Music by Daniel Flors and Vicente Taroncher.
With Rody White.

The interview! Ana Luján talks to Spain NOW! about “Cata 7 Tears”

How would you define yourselves?
As someone who is curious and likes to develop.

What do you do?
Many things, most of them related to the art sector: perform, teach, create, direct, share or play with filming and photography. I also cook and seem to go from place to place regardless of distance.

What can the audience expect from your collaboration with Spain NOW!?
An enriching opportunity to experience artistic work created in another country. CATA 7 tears is a wine-tasting experience communicated through the fusion of music, dance, theatre and visual art, but it is a wine tasting more than a show.

What do you think your collaboration with Spain NOW! will bring for you?
Apart from the experience of managing the technical requirements by mail, liberation and growth, an opportunity to share and communicate a conceptual element -the work- to different audiences in a different country from where it was created.

Give us some insights about the creative process behing “Cata 7 Tears”.
We looked at an international concept present in our culture: the wine-making process. It is an art to produce wine. From that point we went to experience wine tasting and worked in the seven phases that were presented to us. We aren’t experts in the subject and that is the reason why we wanted to explore more into the concept. How does wine get produced? What does it mean? How does it feel? What is it for? Where is it elaborated?

Is this your first show in the UK?
No. I was working in the UK during the past 17 years and travelled to many countries with companies such as Rambert Dance Company or Phoenix Dance Theatre. I have just relocated to Spain where I am working in a few projects…early stages to be able to say: there are a few other engagements outside Spain.

What can you say about the current state of Spanish culture within your field?
It has improved. Society is more involved, more interested, but we don’t use as many public places/spaces as we could to explore other events/projects/possibilities. Regarding the supporting structure for artists, in a business plan it is necessary to know where you are heading for, there is a need for analysis, consistency… Spanish Culture, let’s say, seems to be very spontaneous but every culture/country has unique qualities.

Do you have affinities or share interests with any artists working in the UK?
Yes, I will always do as I became a professional dancer in the UK. At present I am Associate Artist with the Phoenix Dance Theatre. I am still in contact and good relations with many artists based in the UK.

Definition time. Ana Luján as:

a say: “If you see it you can do it”.
a time of the day: I try to have a day without time.
a decade/century from the past (or the future): Everything around us changes but the organs of a human body keeps the same functions.
an animal/mineral/plant: They are alive…symbiotic

A final comment:
Could we cope if technology collapses one of these days?