Celebration. Un ball parlat
Sixty years in dance. In a nutshell, this is what a Barcelona-based choreographer and dancer is celebrating as she now commemorates, along with the audience, six decades of movement.
Montse Colomé has designed this spoken dance as a celebration, a spectacle or a festival in which to share her experiences with the audience at her side, dancing with her, accompanying her as she dances, which is what she has done most throughout her life. This is why she called the piece: Celebration. It is a celebration of 60 years dancing and working in the field of the performing arts.
She was born in Barcelona in February 1956. There were many dancers in her mother’s family, and her brother was a musician, diplomat and author of dance books, so her family encouraged her to start dancing at the tender age of 5.
She earned a diploma in Spanish dance from the Institut del Teatre, and in 1979 she flew to New York, where she spent two years at Alvin Ailey's school encouraged by her teacher, Anna Maleras. When she came back from the United States, she geared her professional life towards teaching. It was in 1986 that she entered the world of show business as a performer and choreographer with Carles Santos and Comediants, travelling and performing at festivals all over the world. She also began to choreograph large-scale shows with Comediants, like the closing ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
She began to work as a choreographer and assistant director in opera and text-based theatre in around 1998. In recent years, she has worked as a dancer with Ramon Colomina, Carles Salas, Toni Jodar, Germana Civera, Arthur Rosenfeld, Pere Faura and Sol Picó.
This piece has received support from the Barcelona Crea grants from the Barcelona Institute of Culture (ICUB).
The show has done a residency in the Casa del Teatre Nu in Sant Martí de Tous and was a 2022 resident project at La Caldera-Les Corts in Barcelona.
Idea and performer: Montse Colomé
Stage and technical design: Sergi Fäustino
Photography: Tristán Pérez-Martín
Making their mark in the show: Jordi Vidal, Jordi Bulbena, Jordi Cardoner, David Pintó, Oscar Dasí, Carles Mallol, Ramon Colomina, Inés Boza, Clàudia Solwat, Pere Faura
Acknowledgements: Osor Town Hall, LasLolas dance company, Mercè Cortadas, El Catllar City Council, Joan Morlà
MONTSE COLOMÉ. Vaig néixer a Barcelona el febrer del 1956. La família de la meva mare eren tots balladors i el meu germà va ser músic, diplomàtic i va escriure diferents llibres de dansa. Per tan el meu entorn familiar va fer que em posés a ballar als 5 anys. Estic diplomada en dansa espanyola per l’Institut del Teatre. Al 1979 volo cap a Nova York on m’hi quedo dos anys a l’escola Alvin Ailey encoratjada per la meva professora Anna Maleras. Al tornar dels Estats Units, desenvolupo la meva vida professional cap a l’ensenyament. I és al 1986 que començo a entrar en el món de l’espectacle de la ma de Carles Santos i de Comediants com a intèrpret i coreògrafa, viatjant i actuant en festivals de mig món. És també de la ma de Comediants on començo a coreografiar per espectacles de gran format: Jocs Olímpics Barcelona 92, Expo de Sevilla 92, Expo de Lisboa 98 i un llarg etc. Cap el 1998 començo a treballar com a coreògrafa i ajudant de direcció en el món de l’opera i en el teatre de text. He treballat pel Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Opera de Paris, Opera de Lyon Welsh National Opera, Piccolo de Milán, Capitol de Toulouse i amb directors com Joan Font, Lluis Pasqual, Josep Maria Mestres, George Lavaudant, Esteve Ferrer, Pep Pla, Ramón Simó, Lurdes Barba, Lluis Homar, Xavier Albertí, Josep Maria Pou.
Els darrers anys he treballat com a ballarina amb en Ramon Colomina, Carles Salas, Toni Jodar, Germana Civera, Arthur Rosenfeld i l’any 2021 amb en Pere Faura i el seu Rèquiem Nocturn.
More about Montse Colomé / O Tempo Voa at La CalderaFriday 21st and Saturday 22nd of July, 8pm