Marcat Dance, the company established by Mario Bermúdez from Jaén and American Catherine Coury, stands as a prominent force in the performing arts, recognized with accolades such as El Ojo Crítico, the Max Awards, the Talía Awards, and the Lorca Awards. In their early days, the duo explored their professional and personal vocabulary, culminating in the choreography initially titled Searching and later Alanda, born from the need to forge their own artistic language while Bermúdez was intensely involved with the Batsheva Dance Company.
This weekend, the artists revived Alanda at Vildanza, the festival they organize in Vilches, Bermúdez's hometown. The event marks its sixth edition in 2026, bringing top-tier contemporary dance to the province of Jaén. This initiative, described as a 'small miracle,' is documented in the film Decían que aquí no había ná, which portrays both the phenomenon of Marcat Dance and the local culinary revolution.
The festival's stage, the Mirador de la Esperanza (Viewpoint of Hope), holds special significance for the couple. Bermúdez shares that Catherine Coury was pregnant during the creation of Alanda and is now expecting again, making the revival of the piece a return to their origins. Both express surprise and emotion in revisiting the material; Bermúdez highlights a newfound maturity and a focus on expressing current feelings rather than the need to impress. Coury, meanwhile, has observed how the body retains the memory of choreography, enabling a fluid performance with minimal rehearsals.
“"I loved revisiting it from my current state, now that I don't have as much anxiety about dancing, that I want to delegate more and focus primarily on choreography. (...) I no longer need to impress anyone; what matters more is to move through what I feel at each moment."
“"We had very few rehearsals because Alanda lived within us. We hadn't performed it in many years, yet it was still there. Rescuing it has been something beautiful and profound."
The Vildanza program also featured a solo performance by Seville-based dancer Isabel Vázquez, who at 60 years old asserted her continued artistic relevance. After a decade focused on directing and choreographing shows like La maldición de los hombres Malboro and Archipiélago de los desastres, as well as dramaturgy for companies including Marcat Dance, Vázquez returned to the stage with Zambra de la buena salvaje. This work, nominated for the Max Awards and Talía Awards, has brought her a sense of poise she values as another prize, overcoming the notion that age limits a dancer's career.
“"It is assumed that a dancer should retire with age. But one day I asked myself: Who said that?"
The piece Zambra de la buena salvaje, with texts by Ruth Rubio and direction by Alberto Velasco, has allowed Vázquez to shed the conviction that she is 'too old to dance.' Additionally, creators Ana F. Melero and Luna Sánchez presented Pies de gallina (Goosebumps), a work exploring the tension between reason and emotion, playing on the phrases 'goosebumps' and 'treading carefully.' The piece, which has toured successfully, delves into the concept of supporting and being supported through vulnerability, illustrating how the fragility of one body is strengthened alongside another.
“"The title is a play on words between having goosebumps and walking with lead feet."
