«We are omnivores of the scene, that is why our programming is eclectic, but selective». With this unequivocal declaration of principles, yesterday Blanca Li presented the program of the Teatros del Canal, which she directs, for the 2022/23 season. More than ninety shows make up the menu, with dance as the lion’s head of a course that will also present theater performances, musical theater, documentary theater and opera; concerts, performances and poetry recitals. There will be 59 premieres, of which 23 will be absolute, another 21 novelties in Spain and 15 more premieres in the Community of Madrid.
«This is the home of the entire Madrid scene; a beacon, a guide, a reference”, said Marta Rivera de la Cruz, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Community of Madrid, to which the Canal Theaters belong, which maintain their international vocation in this edition: thirty productions from sixteen countries will be next season in its four stages.
The regular program will also continue to host events such as the Autumn Festival, Suma Flamenca, the International Festival of Sacred Art, Teatralia or Madrid en Danza.
Within the international section, we must highlight the return to our stages of the Polish director Krystian Lupa, with a production created from John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’. Also the presence of the Thêátre de Suresnes Jean Vilar, with a version of ‘The Nutcracker’ choreographed by Blanca Li; Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, with ‘Coppé-la, by Jean-Christophe Maillot; the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb, directed by Bobo Jelcic, with ‘Sorry’; the Thêátre des Bouffes du Nord (to which Peter Brook has been linked), with ‘La Mouche’ (The Fly); the Schaubühne in Berlin, with its acclaimed production of ‘Orlando’, by Virginia Woolf, directed by Katie Mitchell; or the Göteborgs Stadsteater, which will present ‘Tystnaden’ (The Silence), by Ingmar Bergman.
The two state dance groups, the National Ballet of Spain and the National Dance Company, will be on the Channel this season; the first with a program that recovers, among others, the mythical choreography ‘Ritmos’, by Alberto Lorca; and with Balanchine and Twyla Tharp, the second.
Manuel Linan, Helena Martin, Pau Aran, Maria Rovira, Antonio Ruz, Iratxe Ansa, Sharon Fridman, Juan Carlos Lérida, Eva Yerbabuena, Luz Arcas or Mar Aguilo are other prominent names in the dance programming.
Among the promising shows are ‘Safo’, which unites Christina Rosenvinge, Marta Pazos and María Folguera; ‘The trilogy on the search for identity through time’, by Colectivo Fango; the three operas presented together with the Teatro Real -‘Orphée’, by Philip Glass; ‘Diàlegs de Tirant e Carmesina’, by Joan Magrané (with scenery by Jaume Plensa); and ‘Dido and Aeneas’, by Purcell-; ‘Ladies Football Club’, by Stefano Massini and directed by Sergio Peris-Mencheta, who returns after the success of this season; ‘Amaeru’, by Carolina Roman; ‘All love songs’, by Santiago Loza, directed by Andrés Lima and Eduard Fernández as interpreter; ‘Re-fracción (from my eyes)’, by Eva Yerbabuena; ‘Bad times for the zarzuela’, by Albert Boadella; ‘Mariana’, by La Phármaco and Luz Arcas; ‘Mátame, amor’, by Ariana Harwicz, with Argentine actress Érica Rivas; and the premiere of the theater adaptation by Juan Carlos Rubio of Vargas Llosa’s novel ‘La tía Julia y el escribidor’.
«We may not be fully aware -says Blanca Li-, but something as insignificant as artists being able to see the face of the public again from the stage, and rely on and feed on their natural reactions to what they see, is going to make a huge change this season. An exciting change for all.”
