Iberian Suite – María Muñoz, Mal Pelo & Tania Pérez-Salas Compañía de Danza

In a double bill program, María Muñoz, Artistic Director of Mal Pelo Dance Company, brings the U.S. premiere of her solo piece Bach, followed by Tania Pérez-Salas Compañía de Danza with a new work, Made in Mexico XX.

María Muñoz, Artistic Director of Spain’s Mal Pelo Dance Company, brings the U.S. premiere of her evocative 2004 solo piece, Bach. Performed to Glenn Gould’s recording of J.S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Muñoz draws us into a series of concentrated attempts to ‘catch’ the music, says London’s The Guardian. She sweeps herself around as if in the arms of an invisible partner, or breaks into a sudden syncopated run. La Vanguardia raves that “Muñoz recreates the joyous and formal lightness of the notes in the score, as if her body were just one more element in the stave.

Tania Pérez-Salas, praised for her vivid visual imagination by The New York Times, is one of Mexico’s most accomplished contemporary dancers and choreographers. Made in Mexico XX is a new work, featuring interwoven images rooted in Pérez-Salas’s perspective as a Mexican artist with music representing a collage of Mexican composers. Founded in 1994, her dance company is known for its visual imagery, often making use of props and dramatic lighting. The company made its Kennedy Center debut in 2008 with The Hours and Anabiosis, and returned in 2010 with three works: Fourteen Sixteen, The Waters of Forgetfulness, and Ex-stasis.

Bach

• María Muñoz, Mal Pelo (Spain).
• U.S. Premiere.

Made in Mexico XX

• Tania Pérez-Salas Compañía de Danza (Mexico).
• Tania Pérez-Salas, Artistic Director.
• Kennedy Center debut.

Performance timing: Part one, 50 minutes; Intermission, 20 minutes; Part two, 35 minutes.

Free Explore the Arts post-performance discussion on March 13. Presented as part of the Kennedy Center's International Festival IBERIAN SUITE: global arts remix.