The embrace of a girl and a man. That gesture of affection and sensitivity captured by José Ortiz Echagüe 's camera was the image that inspired the choreographer and dancer Daniel Abreu to create From Tendernessthe show that opens this Saturday in the exhibition halls and other spaces of the University of Navarra Museum, such as the roof or the exterior of the building. The work is the result of the residency program that the artist has made in the center, gestated since the end of 2019. The proposal has the support of INAEM and the City Council of Pamplona and will be performed in two functions, at 7 pm and 8:30 pm (it is brought forward average hour to the schedule initially planned). All tickets are sold out.

It was at a visit to file of the Museum when Abreu discovered this photograph, titled La ternura (Tenderness) and belonging to the Collection, which especially captivated him. "I had some artistic concerns that had a lot to do with affection and I came across this photo. I could see different shades of development and it caught my attention that there was something in the gestures that gave rise to a much broader interpretation," explained the artist at presentation of the show, which also featured the dancers Dácil González and Arnau Pérez and the musician Hugo Portas, who accompany him at proposal, and Teresa Lasheras, director of Performing Arts and Music at the Museum.

In Abreu's words, Desde la ternura does not propose "a representation of that photograph" but to share with the public "stories about tenderness": "Tenderness is the engine, the concept I wanted to work on. But beyond that, there is a wonderful building, a fantastic architecture that allows us to move through many places. This physical, musical and theoretical framework began to move in these days of residency program". In this sense, he pointed out that the creative process of this piece is "very liquid" and that "it generates many questions, especially in a context in which everything changes".

DANCE AROUND THE QUESTIONS

The choreographer has detailed that "the live music by Hugo Portas, in addition to the pre-existing music, which generates many atmospheres, the fixed choreography material and the freedom of the performers are related around some gestures that Ortiz Echagüe picks up: a hand that does not finish wrapping a girl and she, who does not finish touching a father or a grandfather". Thus, the piece offers interpretations that are above all questions about "why, what for, what is tenderness, what does it entail, where does it start from and where does it go to".

The dancer Dácil González said that "it is wonderful to transfer a physical material from a studio to the Museum: here it comes to life, transforms and adapts to each place. The architecture of the space, the content given to the space where we work and the way of inhabiting the place is very interesting". work For his colleague Arnau Pérez, it has been an "enriching experience that has allowed me to take my body to different places or places that were more fragile. There has been a very interesting conversation about how the three bodies on stage change and how these conceptual ideas resurface". As for the music, Hugo Portas has specified that it is mainly baroque pieces, "versions transferred to a contemporary instrument such as the tuba".

For his part, Lasheras highlighted the Museum's artistic residency program, which focuses on "generating works inspired by some of the strong points of the Museum' s artistic and creative project . That starting point can be a photograph or a work from our collection, the architecture of the building and its spaces, artistic ideas...". He also stressed that working again with Abreu, who already presented in November his show El hijo, within Museo en Danza, has been "a pleasure, he is already a friend and an artistic partner ".