Two prominent figures in contemporary dance were recognized this Monday with the 2024 National Dance Awards, an honor granted by Spain’s Ministry of Culture. Lorena Nogal, recognized in the Interpretation category, and Luz Arcas, celebrated in Creation, each receive a 30,000 euro prize for works staged in the prior year, 2023. In some cases these prizes also acknowledge a dancer’s entire career. Nogal and Arcas, whether performing solo or with their respective companies, stand among the most admired and influential personalities in recent years. Source: Ministry of Culture.
The jury justified Nogal’s prize by highlighting her undeniable technical mastery and expressive range, which place her among the most influential interpreters shaping the national and international dance scene. They add that Nogal has carried the La Veronal choreographic language from the company’s beginnings, shaping a distinctive identity that has become recognizable in recent creations such as Firmamento, Opening Night, and Sonoma. Source: Ministry of Culture.
Between Mexico and Flamenco
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Luz Arcas, who also directs stage works and founded in 2009 the La Phármaco company with which she continues to collaborate, receives the prize for a polyhedral view and the versatility of her dance, crystallized in a creative surge that has produced two notable trilogies Bekristen Tríptico de la prosperidad and Ciclo de los milagros. The report notes that Arcas’s pieces bring together a blend of styles, underscored by a steadfast commitment to a personal language. Her work mixes risk with innovation with a continual revisiting of her roots. Source: Ministry of Culture.
Arcas has just returned from Mexico, where she has been developing Bordo Poniente, a piece centered on one of the megacity’s most sprawling dumps. The production, with ten dancers entirely from Mexico, will be staged at the Guadalajara International Book Fair and in other Mexican cities. The prize arrived during a disrupted schedule of rehearsals. She recalled that when she woke up to the morning call, the minister shared the news. She expressed delight and astonishment at a recognition that had been anticipated since last year after completing her Bekristen trilogy. Source: Ministry of Culture.
Beyond her Mexican project, Arcas keeps Mariana alive, a look at flamenco and the bodies it animates. She is also developing a new creation, in collaboration with Pedro G. Romero, titled La mesa que habla, part of a broader project by the artist called La mesa que baila. In that project Arcas is joined by other dancers such as Ursula López, Leonor Leal, and the Choro Molina. La mesa que habla was recently shown at the Alarcón Criado gallery, where the National Prize itself premiered the exhibition Lo que el flamenco nos enseña. The two National Awards include another ongoing project, a La Phármaco dance work addressing the topic of spiritism. Source: Ministry of Culture.
Maria Luz Arcas Lopez, born in Málaga in 1983, earned a degree in choreography from the Conservatorio Superior Maria de Ávila and studied directing at the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático in Madrid. Initiated in flamenco by teachers such as Lina Fonteboa, Susana Lupiáñez, and Ana Soto, she also trained in Indian classical dance and contemporary dance across Brussels, Amsterdam, Croatia, and Berlin. Through her company La Phármaco she deepened her artistic approach toward dance and the stage. Her works include Mariana, Todas las santas, Trilla, a duo with the composer Le Parody, Toná, Una gran emoción política, Miserere, Cuando la noche llegue se cubrirán con ella, and Kaspar Hauser. El huérfano de Europa stands among her most notable pieces, and she has toured across several European countries. She is also the author of Pensé que bailar me salvaría, published in October 2022 by Continta me tienes. She has been recognized with the El Ojo Crítico de Danza Award in 2015 and the Max Award for Best Female Dancer in 2017 and 2022. Source: Ministry of Culture.
Nogal and La Veronal
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On her side, Lorena Nogal, born in 1984 in Barcelona, is involved in a range of projects that are currently active. La Veronal’s works Sonoma, Pasionaria, and Opening Night are touring, just as her solo piece El elogio de la fisura and Alegorías, el límite y sus mapas, a collaboration with dancer Paula Comitre that premiered in 2022 at the Théâtre Chaillot in Paris, continue to travel to audiences around the world.
Nogal trained as a dancer at the Institute of The Theatre in Barcelona and in the IT Dansa program, where she immersed herself in the repertoire of renowned international choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Jiří Kylián, Stijn Celis, and Nacho Duato. For more than fifteen years she has collaborated closely with Marcos Morau as an assistant in choreography and as a dancer for the La Veronal company, overseeing both her own productions and commissions for institutions of prestige such as the Royal Danish Ballet, Beijing Dance Theater, Gothenburg Opera Dance Company, the National Dance Company, and the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. She has also worked with other acclaimed companies such as GelabertAzzopardi and La Lanõnima Imperial. In 2018 she helped launch HOTEL Colectivo Escénico, a platform weaving together different performing arts with the imaginations of a diverse group of artists. The solo piece El elogio de la fisura stands out among her recent creations as a choreographer. She also leads courses in the KOVA movement method developed with La Veronal. A few months ago she was honored with the best female interpreter award at the 2024 Talía Awards. Source: Ministry of Culture.