Teulada-Moraira is set to host a groundbreaking event this Thursday that fuses Japanese butoh dance, live music, and sculpture into a single, immersive experience. The performance brings together dancer Fred Herrera and saxophonist Xavier Valerio in a collaboration that elevates the monumental salt sculpture created by Coderch and Malavia. Herrera, who inspired the work itself, anchors a free evening of contemporary art where movement, sound, and sculpture converse on stage and on the ground around the artwork. The venue is Moraira Castle Esplanade, and the show begins at 8:00 pm, inviting residents and visitors to encounter an unprecedented artistic dialogue in a historic coastal setting.
International artists Fred Herrera and Javier Valerio, with roots in Costa Rica, conceived this distinctive show for presentation in the municipality of Alicante. The original musical score accompanying the performance is crafted by Valerio, a guest of the University of Costa Rica, and the production weaves a dialogue between the raw language of butoh and the magic of a monumental sculpture. The event aligns with national celebrations in their host country, offering audiences a cross-cultural experience that transcends borders. As with many prior collaborations, the piece invites the audience to witness how movement and sculpture can breathe together, creating a living moment where bronze, salt, and blood-like red hues on the surface of the sculpture echo through the choreography and the soundscape (Source: Reina Sofia Sculpture and Painting Award references).
Delivered under the banner of the show titled “face to face between bronze and blood,” the project has evolved since its early form in 2019 when sculptors Coderch and Malavia, along with the dancer, began a process that gradually integrated the kinetic perspective of Herrera with the monumental sculpture. The work has traveled through Valencia, Munich, Capri, Toulouse, and other cities, building a track record that signals a turning point in the relationship between sculpture and live performance. The giant sculpture now stands as a symbol of hope and renewal in the wake of global crises, aiming to spark international cooperation and mutual understanding among communities. The emphasis is not just on spectacle but on shared humanity, inviting spectators to see how sculpture can host dance and how dance can illuminate the memory and meaning embedded in heavy, fixed forms.
The mayor of Teulada Moraira, Raúl Llobell, expressed enthusiasm about welcoming Fred Herrera and enabling the audience to trace the dancer’s origins and the sculpture’s significance. The event seeks to illuminate the statue’s purpose, its narrative, and its relationship to the art of butoh, turning a public installation into a stage for experiential learning and cultural exchange. The setting—an iconic promenade with a sea view that sits adjacent to Moraira Castle—provides a layered backdrop where maritime light and the carved mass of the sculpture intensify the performance. The plan is to encourage a broad audience to engage with the piece in a direct, intimate way as the performance unfolds in a space that invites quiet observation and spontaneous dialogue among attendees (Source: Local government release).
The event promises a privileged cultural moment in a historic location by the coast, where the interplay between sculpture and performance becomes a collective memory for those who attend. The promenade beside Moraira Castle offers a natural stage that blends sea spray, sunset colors, and the stark presence of the giant sculpture, a setting that mirrors the tension and harmony at the heart of butoh itself. Attendees who wish to participate can expect a carefully choreographed sequence that invites personal reflection as the dancers move with the sculpture, stepping into a shared space where gravity, breath, and music fuse into a single expressive thread. Those interested can anticipate further details and scheduling updates from official channels as the event approaches, with the understanding that this is a first-of-its-kind presentation in the region (Source: Municipal cultural calendar).
This performance represents more than a show; it marks a dialogue across mediums and cultures. By bringing together a living dancer, a skilled saxophonist, and a monumental sculpture, the piece creates a multilayered experience where sound, motion, and form challenge conventional boundaries. It invites the audience to witness how butoh’s restrained intensity can speak through the weathered surface of sculpture, and how the sculpture, standing in salt-toned mass, can gain new vitality when animated by human movement. In doing so, the event aims to foster unity and resilience, reminding viewers that art can be a shared force for hope and collaboration in uncertain times (Source: Art and Culture Observations).