Mal Pelo: Inventions

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Image courtesy of Grec Festival de Barcelona.

The relationship between dance, music and architecture lies at the heart of a performance that adapts to the space in which it is presented and evolves with it. The third choreography in Mal Pelo’s Bach Project, Inventions draws its musical material from fragments of the composer’s cantatas, together with passages from the Partita No. 2 and pieces from The Art of Fugue in a version for string quartet. Musical direction is by Joel Bardolet, with the quartet of lyrical voices coordinated by Quiteria Muñoz, and Fanny Thollot as sound engineer and composer. Thollot’s sonic universe suggests landscapes inspired by Baroque music and adapts to each performance space in order to reveal its particular acoustics. As the company puts it, “sound inhabits space just as we humans do, revealing fictions, evocations and landscapes that resonate within us.”

The piece was originally meant to be performed at the Barcelona Maritime Museum during the 2020 Barcelona Grec Festival. Due to the lockdown and the protective measures in place at the time, the work had to be created within a limited timeframe and under difficult conditions. It now returns in a new version adapted to the specific characteristics of the Teatre Grec.

Restless and constantly driven by experimentation, Pep Ramis and María Muñoz, the creative forces behind Mal Pelo, blend movement with a range of artistic forms and collaborate across disciplines in productions that combine choreography with theatricality, music and, at times, text and video. The approach to stage space, the choreographic and musical work, and the composition and treatment of sound and lighting are among the hallmarks of the company’s creations. They have been closely involved in the Barcelona Grec Festival since 1997, when they presented La calle del imaginero. Other pieces they’ve brought to the festival include Orache (1998), Atrás los ojos (2002), An (el silenci) (2003), Atlas o Antes de llegar a Barataria (2005), Tots els noms (2011), El cinquè hivern (2015) and Doble Infinite (The Bluebird Call).

Performance will be in Catalan with English subtitles.

Sounds of the City: Summer Music Festivals

What are your plans for summer? If you’re staying in the city, you won’t be alone. Barcelona is becoming a go-to destination for festival lovers, given Catalunya’s covetable combination of culture, great weather and an increasingly diverse concert circuit. So if you’re looking to expand your horizons while staying put this season, check out our article Sounds of the City: Summer Music Festivals for a summary of the summer music events taking place in Barcelona, from big-name gatherings to boutique takeovers.

For more music events check our online events calendar.