Janet Novás & Mercedes Peón: MERCEDES MAIS EU - performance 25.4.
The performance Mercedes máis eu, winner of the Ojo Crítico Dance Award RNE (2021) and the Catalan Critics Award for Best Performer (2021), comes to the Mediterranean Dance Center as part of the San Vincenti Dances programme, in the lead-up to International Dance Day.
The work by Janet Novás and Mercedes Peón is one of the notable dance–music duets on the contemporary European scene, recognized for its strong performative presence and the unique relationship between body and sound.
April 25 at 20:00
Mediterranean Dance Center, Svetvinčenat
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
To define “Mercedes máis eu” speaking of desire is inevitable. That desire that finds reasons to project itself beyond a first encounter, to become re-encounter, conversation, experience, affection... Persisting in that desire, which updates itself passing through the project, is to underscore what happens to us in each encounter. But it is also to delve into what is our own and what is shared, which is beyond subject and territory. Or at least that territory, written in capital letters, hegemonic, which imposes itself and constructs us from outside, defining our limits through shapes and patterns that have nothing to do with inheritance or memory. That memory or living archive that updates with desire, distancing us from our own immanence.
“Mercedes máis eu” is a work of collaboration between the artist Janet Novás and the composer Mercedes Peón in which they both explore the particular relation that exists and establishes itself between "her dance and her music." Among instruments, memories, songs, and dances, concepts, in different stages of latency, surface. Some of them, of high socio-political content, are present in the material, from musical- to dance and biographical objects; other somatic concepts or quantum experiences appear in the pulses, rhythms and tones, in the voices and in the dynamics, in the silences, in the shapes.
“Mercedes máis eu" looks toward the collective and does so from perspectives and sensibilities not at all archetypal. The work is also a subtle proposal on shared sensibility, and a commitment to artistic action and knowledge.
The work, in feminine, is a music-dance hybrid full of evocative images.
“Novás and Peón are two scenic beasts, two forces of nature that catch everyone's eye.”
Oriol Puig Taulé, NÚVOL
CAST & CREDITS
Direction: Janet Novás
Creation & Performance: Janet Novás, Mercedes Peón
Dramaturgy: Ricardo Santana
Advisor: Pablo Esbert
Music, concept & lyrics: Mercedes Peón
Lighting design: Cristina Bolívar
Sound design: Ezequiel Orol
Costume design: Juanita Rodríguez
Production: Adriana Reyes
Supported by: Comunidad de Madrid
In collaboration with: Centro Danza Canal, Graner Centro de Creació, Sede Losdedae
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Janet Novás
Dancer, performer and actress. She studied contemporary dance in Madrid, Brussels, Berlin and Vienna. In 2008 she began to create and develop her own dance and performance projects, giving way to experimentation and self-investigation through the body and voice. Her work is constructed from observation, experience and dialog with her body as the principle tool, opting for a personal language, molding the emotional content and esthetic simplicity that characterize her pieces. She has received several awards, including the “GOYA FOR THE BEST NEW ACTRESS” (2024) for the film “O Corno” by Jaione Camborda, the “OJO CRÍTICO DE DANZA” by RNE (2021), the “CATALAN CRITICS AWARD” for the best dancer with the piece “Mercedes mais eu” (2021) or “THE INJUVE AWARD” (2011) with her first long work “Cara pintada”. Her creations have been presented in prestigious national and international festivals such as Rencontres Chorégraphiques, Festival de Marseille, Festival Nouvelles-Pole Sud, Cement Festival, FIDCU (Montevideo), Mercat de les Flors, Centro Cultural Conde Duque and Festival de Otoño among others. In 2011 she was selected to participate in the program of workshops and residencies ChoreoRoam Europe organized by The Place (London), Festival Opera Estate (Italy), Dansateliers (Holland), Danceweek Festival (Croatia) and the Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid. She also has been selected, with her latest production Proto (SN1806), as resident artist at El Graner Fábrica de Creació (Catalonia, 22/23). As a choreographer she has directed the movement part of La Gala de los Premios Max 2014 and Los Premios Mestre Mateo (Galicia), and has collaborated with artists such as the choreographer Pablo Lilienfeld, the musician Mercedes Peón or the fashion designers Zap&Buj in a production of Veranos de la Villa (2019). As an actress she debuted in 2023 as the protagonist of the film “O Corno” by Jaione Camborda, winner of the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián Film Festival, and recently worked on projects such as Romería by Carla Simón, which will premiere in the Official Selection at Cannes 2025; Harta by Júlia de Paz; and The Songs of Ekai by Afra Rigamonti. Janet Novás alternates her work as a dancer, performer and actress with that of a teacher, giving classes and workshops in different centers in Spain, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Mercedes Peón
1967, Oza dos Rios (A Coruña) and at just 13 years of age she already loved to listen to the singing of the women of the Costa da Morte called “Pandereteras.” Her great love for the sound of the "Panderetas" and for the singing of the "Ribeirana" grew and led Mercedes Peón, at 17, to travel to Galicia's most out-of-the-way towns and villages in the tireless work of collecting the songs, music, dances and traditions of the Galician people in order to pass them on to new generations. Afterwards Mercedes Peón shared her acquired knowledge by teaching at local schools (for 8 years she taught extracurricular activities related to music and Galician folklore), on Televisión de Galicia (where she became popular as a presenter on an entertainment program called "Luar") as well as at various universities (the Sorbonne in Paris, Oporto University and the University of Wales, among others). At first, Mercedes Peón formed part of the folklore group “Xacarandaina”, founded in 1978. Peón's first recordings were collaborations with other artists such as Xosé Manuel Budiño, “Os Diplomáticos de Monte-Alto”, Alasdair Fraser, Carlos Núñez, Kepa Junquera, and the group “Mano Negra”. Probably Peón's most popular work is the theme from the television series "Mareas Vivas". In 2000 she recorded her first solo album “Isué”, mixing traditional elements with contemporary sound. Her later albums “Airú” (2003) and “Sihá” (2007) further developed her distinctive artistic voice. Internationally, Mercedes Peón is recognized as one of the most original artists on the contemporary music scene.
TICKETS
Ticket information coming soon.