Prisma Five Years on Stage

By Ana Teresa Benjamín
Photos: Cortesía PRISMA

The PRISMA 2016 International Contemporary Dance Festival of Panama will be celebrating its fifth year with the same energy and purpose it has had since 2012: to contribute to the development of contemporary dance in the country and offer a show that not only fulfills the expectations of experts, but also attracts new fans.

Two guest companies and another eleven companies selected from among more than three hundred applicants will perform at the Anita Villalaz Theater in the Casco Viejo, the Ateneo in the City of Knowledge, and the Anayansi Theater in Atlapa, in addition to special performances in alternative locations such as the Biomuseo, Xielo, and the Colegio Elena Chávez de Pinate, among others.

“We are going to have fourteen shows —eight with entrance fees and six free ones— distributed among the various locations. We will also hold an entire week of workshops on choreography, duets, technique, and dance-theater, a workshop for non-dancers, three workshops for children, and one for young people, which will be held at the Kiwanis Club of El Chorrillo,” explains Analida Galindo, one of the founders and organizers of the festival.

One of the guest companies is Vim Vigor, a dance theater company based in New York, which is characterized by their physicality and energetic performances. Choreographer Shannon Gillen, who appeared on Brooklyn Magazine’s list of top twenty artists, founded the company. For PRISMA, they will perform the piece Separati.

The other guest company is La Veronal, created in 2005 by Marcos Morau, who studied dance and choreography at the Institut del Teatre of Barcelona, the Superior Conservatory of Higher Dance Studies of Valencia, and Movement Research in New York, in addition to studying photography and theater. La Veronal is based in Spain and made up —unsurprisingly— not only of dance artists, but also filmmakers, writers, and photographers. The piece they will perform on October 16 at the Anayansi Theater is called Russia.

About the Selected Companies

In addition to the two guest companies, eleven other groups ¬—selected by a panel of judges composed of journalists, dancers, artists, and entrepreneurs— will enrich the PRISMA festival. Below is a brief overview of each of the groups, which represent countries from the Americas, Europe, and Asia, to help you begin putting your itinerary together.