Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid
The Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid is an annual platform for new work
in contemporary dance and contemporary ballet. It is open to all Spanish
choreographers and to international choreographers who live and work in Spain.
Founded in 1987 by Margaret Jova and Laura Kumin,
and directed by Laura Kumin since 2000, the Certamen was created as a response
to the growing number of emerging choreographers working in contemporary dance
in Spain. Since then it has been instrumental in providing key support to
contemporary dance artists and has helped to promote over 320 choreographers
and 1,050 dancers.
In 2008 Paso
a 2 Plataforma Coreográfica Asociación Cultural was founded as the umbrella
organization for the Certamen and its numerous activities throughout the
year. Since 2013 the Certamen has been
held at Conde Duque, a former military headquarters converted into a cultural center
with a 250-seat theater. The Coreógrafos
en Comunidad project, most of whose members have been Certamen prizewinners,
also has their headquarters there at present.
Some of the companies and choreographers who have received support at a
crucial point in their professional development from the Certamen include Daniel
Abreu, La Macana, Nats Nus, Provisional
Danza, 10 & 10 Danza, Iñaki Azpillaga, Enrique Cabrera (Aracaladanza),
Damián Muñoz , Virginia García (working together as La Intrusa), Erre que Erre,
Teresa Nieto, Olga Mesa, Patricia Ruz, Thomas Noone, Roberto Oliván, Mar Gómez,
Paloma Díaz, Fernando Hurtado, and Fernando Lima. A full listing of Certamen prizewinners can
be found on our website www.pasoa2.com /certamen/historico
More than two generations of dance artists who have participated and
been supported by the Certamen are now working throughout Spain and
abroad. Many of them have outstanding
recognition in the field, among them 10 y 10 Danza, Teresa Nieto, Chevi
Muraday, Carmen Werner, and Daniel Abreu, are recipients of National Dance Prizes from the Spanish
Ministry of Culture for their creative work.
Spanish dancers and choreographers who initiated their international
contacts through Certamen prizes include Olga Mesa, Rafael Pardillo, Luque
Tagua, Félix Lozano, Paz Rojo, Chevi Muraday, Sonia Rodríguez, José Agudo y
Daniel Abreu, among others.
The Certamen offers:
- a meeting
point for the participants, who come to Madrid from all over Spain and
abroad, make new contacts that often result in creative collaborations,
present their work in a professional theatre before an audience of general
public, key people in the performing arts, presenters, journalists, etc. Individual participants also have a
chance to meet with the jury. This informal meeting provides a framework
for constructive feedback and is an extremely important aspect of the
Certamen process.
- prizes,
including cash, programming for works by winning choreographers as well as
guest company invitations for the following year, international and
national residencies for developing new work, scholarships, participation
in international projects and funds for touring
- international
promotion: each year the Certamen
jury is comprised of a rich mix of national and international artists,
programmers, festival directors, journalists, etc. Our aim is to help promising
choreographers be seen by people who can be instrumental in helping them
to develop their careers. Sometimes
scholarships or new residencies are offered in this way. Certamen prize winners have had their
work presented in the U.S., France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland,
Portugal, the U.K., Luxembourg, Denmark,
Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic...
- professional
training: The Certamen organizes a workshop that takes place right before
we launch the program at the theatre.
All choreographers selected to present their work in the Certamen
are invited to attend this workshop free of charge. The Workshop not only offers a chance to
work with excellent artists and teachers, but also gives choreographers
the opportunity to collaborate on the creative process together before the
Certamen itself begins.
In 2008 a new project, "Palabras en Movimiento”
(Moving Words) was created to promote writing about dance. The project was created for students at
Madrid´s Conservatorio Superior de Danza "María de Ávila” de Madrid, and the
School of Journalism at Madrid´s Complutense University, with the collaboration
of the specialized dance publication Susy-Q.
and other universities also
participate. The Certamen is associated with a platform for
emerging work and is a partner in European programs for more experienced
choreographers.
The director of the Certamen Coreográfico de
Madrid is the Spanish partner and one of the founding members of Aerowaves, a
dynamic initiative to promote young choreographers throughout Europe.
From 2009-2012
the Certamen was a partner in ChoreoRoam, a project founded in 2008 to
build Europe-wide communities of choreographers and bring a real dialogue and
intellectual exchange to stimulate the participating dance creators. ChoreoRoam participants to share their
knowledge and experience with other artists in Spain through workshops such as
those given by Pablo Esbert in 2013 or by Amy Bell in 2014.
Although the Certamen is primarily a Spanish
event, and in this way addresses artists at a crucial point in their
development, we are interested in and open to all kinds of collaboration with
institutions, individuals and events in Spain and abroad that might help to
promote emerging choreographers.
How It Works:
Choreographies must either be new or created since
September of the previous year. Minimum
number of performers is two, maximum 15, and the maximum duration of the work
is fifteen minutes. Technical support is provided by the
Certamen; each choreographer is given an hour for rehearsal onstage, therefore
lighting and scenery must be kept to a minimum.
Choreographers send videos of their work to the Certamen
before a mid-September deadline. A
pre-selection committee that includes members of the jury chooses between 10-14
short works to be presented at the theatre during the first two days of the
Certamen. After the second night's performance
the jury selects those choreographies which will go on to the finals. Finalists
perform the following evening, the jury deliberates and prizes are awarded
onstage. During the jury deliberation
one or more guest companies perform short works.
Certamen winners perform the next evening. They share the program with prize-winners
from previous years who return as guest companies with new work. Performances
are open to the public. All interested
participating choreographers may sign up to speak with the jury in a one-on-one
session Saturday morning.
All choreographers selected to present their work in the Certamen are
invited to participate in the activities scheduled for that week.
Since 2008 the Certamen has collaborated with the Gracias X Favor emerging
artists series and provided individualized constructive feedback as well as an
all-day workshop for participating choreographers. In 2014 GXF in Madrid merged with the
International FEEDBACK Festival held at Madrid´s Kubik Fabrik venue. GXF was
held for the first time outside of Madrid in September 2014. Hosted in Santander with a week-long calendar
of events and engaged, enthusiastic audiences, a new edition of GXF is being
planned in the same city for 2015.
Criteria:
The Certamen encourages a plurality of languages and
perspectives and also admits performance art in which the body plays a
fundamental role.
Some of the criteria that past jury members
have used include: originality, capacity of invention, fulfillment of
choreographic ideas, use of choreographic and dance language, dramaturgy, use
of space, use of music, of the elements
onstage, of the dancers, and the relationship between the overall concept of
the choreography and what is seen on stage.
Jury members look for individuals with the potential to develop
compelling work and a voice of their own.
In 2014 Paso a 2 created a new project, Me, Myself & I, for solos
at an initial point in their development.
PRIZES 2014
There will be other prizes which
will be included to the basis and will be announced on the web page www.pasoa2.com
The Jury can award a combination of
prizes.
First Prize: 5.000 €
Residency
for a choreographer at La Caldera, in Barcelona for two weeks in 2015 with support from Paso a 2 for travel and housing expenses, and the
possibility of programming in the Festival Grec.
Residency for a choreographer at Losdedae Dance Company´s headquarters in
Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) in 2015 as part of their LCD Movement Program, with
support from Paso a 2 for travel and
housing expenses. www.losdedae.com
Residency for a choreographer at La Nave del Duende,
Casar de Cáceres for two weeks in 2015, with support from
Paso a 2 for travel and housing expenses.
Residency for a choreographer at Centro de Danza Canal,
Madrid, for one month in the summer 2015,
with support
from Paso a 2 for travel expenses.
Residency for a choreographer at Espacio Espiral,
Santander, in 2015, with support
from Paso a 2 for travel expenses. NEW
PRIZE.
Residency for a choreographer at Centro Coreográfico de
La Gomera in the summer 2015, with
support from Paso a 2 for travel expenses.
Residency for a choreographer at Tanzhaus, Zürich NEW PRIZE
Residency for a maximum of 4 choreographers at Graner,
Barcelona, for one week, with
accommodation and subsistance with support from Paso a 2 for travel.
Attendance at the Week of Choreographic Research in
Bassano del Grappa, Italy from August 17-24, 2015, with travel support from
Paso a 2 NEW PRIZE
Technical Residency Coslada Larumbe Danza
Prize awarded by the University Of Carlos III of Leganés,
Madrid: Inclusion of
one choreographer participant in the programming of Aula de Danza and its
international projects in different formats: participation in the site-specific DeUnaPieza
platform, the European project Crossing Stages and other collaborations which
might arise from the creative meeting between this institution and the
prizewinner.
Artistic mentoring by Coreógrafos en Comunidad. NEW
PRIZE.
This community of choreographers, made up of Sharon
Fridman, Camille C. Hanson, Mey-Ling Bisogno, Janet Novás, Jesús Rubio, Manuel
Rodríguez, Beatriz Palenzuela y Pablo Esbert Lilienfeld, will offer artistic
mentoring for one choreographer participating in the Certamen. Within this
process of collective mentoring, the prizewinner will decide how to make the
most of his/her relationship with the artistic and human diversity represented
by Coreógrafos en Comunidad. A dialogue,
which can be different and unique in each case, will be built with each group
member. The objective is to offer the prizewinner the possibility to enrich
his/her artistic process with eight artists with very heterogeneous
sensibilities and extensive experience in performing arts. Coreográfos en
Comunidad is a group of independent chreographers with very varied artistic
visions but with the common desire to join forces to strengthen and invigorate
the fabric of contemporary dance in Madrid.
NEW PRIZE
Fundación
AISGE Prize for an outstanding Dancer: Partial scholarship to the American Dance Festival's Six
Week School, Duke University, NC (USA) during six weeks in the summer of 2015,
with 3,500 euros provided for expenses by the Fundación AISGE. There is also an
agreement with Movement Research, NYC, for a partial scholarship to their MELT
workshops. www.adf.org, www.movementresearch.org.
Prize awarded by the Conservatorio
Superior de Danza "María de Ávila” de Madrid: invitation to set a work by
one of the prizewinners or finalists of the Certamen on students in the
Contemporary Dance Choreography and Performance Program. The CSD gives a per
diem. www.csdma.es
Audience
Prize: This is not a cash prize, although the choreographer is eligible for
programming and for financial aid for touring.
Programming in the Museo
Reina Sofía, Madrid, in 2015.
Programming of a prizewinning or
finalist choreography in the FEX (Festival Extensión del Festival Internacional
de Música y Danza de Granada), summer 2015.
Programming in the next edition of
the Festival Trayectos, Zaragoza.
A 2014
prizewinner or prizewinner from a previous edition of the Certamen will be
invited in 2015 with a new work as a guest company.
Scholarship
for one choreographer for Jardin d'Europe/DanceWEBeurope 2015, Viena, Austria, financed by the European Union and Paso a 2, including
participation in the PRO SERIES 2015 choreographic projects, participation in
classes and workshops of the ImPulsTanz 2015 and the COACHING PROJECT, tickets
for all performances at the ImpulsTanz-Vienna festival and acces to all the
activities of the festival. www.ImPulsTanz.comwww.jardindeurope.eu
Scholarship
for the Barcelona International Dance Exchange (BIDE) in Spring, 2015, www.bide.be,
with travel support supplied by the Certamen.
The
Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid Mentoring Project: a selected choreographer is offered
mentoring according to the specific needs of his or her next project. To be
carried out in 2015.
Grant
towards travel expenses for touring in Spain: 1.500 euros.
About the
prizes:
Residencies may be given to any finalist and do not have to be
attached to one of the other cash prizes. The jury is free to put together a
combination of prizes in order to offer promising artists the best possible
support for their future development.
The prizes
are subject to applicable taxes and shall be paid after presentation of
invoice, once Paso 2 has received the grant that finance them.
Programmers are invited to attend the Certamen. Prize-winning choreographies are invited to
many of the principal dance festivals in Spain and are now presented at a
growing number of international festivals
About the residencies and the
scholarships:
The
choreographers that receive a residency as a prize from the Certamen will have
one month from the end of the Certamen to determine with the host center the
timing of his/her residency. Failure to reach an agreement about the dates
within the period stipulated will result in the residency being given to
another Certamen participant.
The
choreographers that opt for scholarships and residencies should ensure their
availability for the entire duration of these activities. Choreographers in residence must respect the
agreement made with each host center regarding exchange activities (master
classes, open rehearsals, previews, etc.).
These will be agreed upon by both parties when planning the dates of the
residency period. All the choreographers that receive scholarships and
residencies as prizes must submit a report to Paso a 2 afterwards in order to
provide documentation and feedback about the experience.
Support for
travel expenses:
Travel
expenses and meals during the event are the responsibility of the participants
but the Certamen might offer as a prize an aid for groups travelling to Madrid
from other parts of the country or from other countries, as well as per diems
for winners who come from other parts of the country and stay in Madrid to
present their winning/awarded works during the last two days of the Certamen.
(subject to budget availability). Paso a 2 will try to help participants travelling
to Madrid find local hosts.
The Certamen is grateful for the support received by the following
institutions and initiatives:
Sponsors:
European Union, Education and Culture
DG (for ChoreoRoam Europe)
Ministerio de Cultura, Educación y
Deporte - INAEM
Comunidad de Madrid –
Vicepresidencia, Consejería de Cultura y Turismo y Portavocía,
Dirección General de Promoción Cultural
Conde Duque, Madrid
Fundación SGAE
Acción Cultural Española
Collaborating
Institutions:
American Dance Festival, Carolina del
Norte, USA
Asociación Cultural "Por la
Danza" y Asociación de Profesionales de la Danza en la Comunidad de Madrid
Ayuntamiento de Coslada / Larumbe
Danza
Barcelona International Dance
Exchange (BIDE)
Centro Coreográfico de La Gomera
Centro de Danza Canal/Teatros del
Canal
Centro de Documentación de Música y
Danza, INAEM
Cía. de Danza Losdedae/LSD in
Movement
Conservatorio Superior de Danza
"María de Ávila” de Madrid
Coreógrafos en Comunidad
Espacio Espiral
Festival B-Motion, OperaEstate, Italia
Festival Internacional Madrid en
Danza
FEX Festival Internacional de Música
y Danza de Granada
Fundación AISGE, España
Fundación Santander Creativa
Graner
Jardin d’Europe/DanceWEBeurope,
Viena, Austria
Kubik Fabrik
La Caldera, Barcelona
La Nave del Duende, Casar de Cáceres
LSD en Movement/Losdedae, Cía. en
Residencia Alcalá de Henares
Mercat de les Flors
Movement Research, Nueva Cork
Museo Reina Sofía
Nistagmo
Nomadans
Notodo.com
Operaestate Veneto
Pase IVEA
SNEO
Susy-Q
Tanzhaus Zürich
Trayectos Danza en Paisajes Urbanos
Universidad Carlos III
Contact us:
The Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid is interested
in establishing dialogues with programs, venues, projects and individuals with
similar aims both nationally and internationally.
More information about the Certamen is available
in Spanish on our website: www.pasoa2.com
You
can reach us at: Paso a 2 Plataforma Coreográfica Asociación Cultural
Tel/fax: 34 91 365 70 37 and by e-mail at la.kumin@gmail.com