Jesús Carmona and the University Museum of Navarra: when art dances with the research
The world's best dancer has met with group experts from the University, the Clinic and the Cima University of Navarra to work on his next show, which reflects on mental health.
The Jesús Carmona Company and the MUN co-produce Súper viviente, which will have its world premiere at the Museum on September 26th.
Mental health is gradually ceasing to be a taboo in our conversations, in the news or in fiction. The field of research and the artistic world have a lot to tell us, and to tell each other, about it.
The best dancer in the world (award Benois de la Danse 2021), Jesús Carmona, participated today in a session at work in the MUN with five researchers from the University, the Clinic and Cima University of Navarra. He has done so to talk, among other issues, about dissociative identity disorder, the starting point of the premiere that he will present on September 26. It is Súper viviente, a show that reflects on mental health, co-produced by the MUN and the Jesús Carmona Company, with the support of the Community of Madrid. The artist shares stage direction with María Cabeza de Vaca. Tickets for the show are on sale at locker and on the web.
Psychiatrist Enrique Aubá and psychologist Francesco de Lorenzi, from the Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN); Carmen Urpí, dedicated to artistic Education , and Luis Humberto Eudave, to psychology, at the School of Education and Psychology of the University of Navarra; and María Asunción Pastor, who has focused on neurology in the CIMAThe professionals who have contributed their points of view to the dancer.
"As time goes by, we need more accurate answers, more visions, more opinions to generate our own," explains Carmona about his interest in sitting down with them. While with El salto he wondered about his masculinity, and in Baile de bestias about his inner beasts, Carmona now completes a trilogy of self-knowledge. With Súper viviente, he intends to find out who he is.
Carmona returns to MUN with a world premiere
But how did this synergy come about? The director of Performing Arts and Music, Teresa Lasheras, says that "the mission statement of MUN is to transform people through art". This purpose meets with the interest of the University and the Clínica Universidad de Navarra in mental health, a field in which they are at the forefront. In addition, there is the simplicity "with which the MUN facilitates the partnership between academic and artistic research -continues Lasheras-. We have it in our house, which is something absolutely singular in the artistic panorama". "They believed from the very first moment in that project. They helped me and gave me all their possibilities to do it", completes Carmona. And he underlines: "They have opened their doors to accompany us without hesitation".
"It is a dialogue so that everyone, from their own discipline, can nuance and contrast this creation," says Dr. Enrique Aubá, a psychiatrist. As for the specific contribution of his specialization program, he points out that a large part of psychopathology has to do "with the awareness of the self and the awareness of one's own body". He also stresses the importance of reflection on identity, an element core topic in artistic interpretation, as the ability to embody "another identity, another personality".
For his part, Luis Humberto Eudave, from the School of Education and Psychology, emphasizes that studying dissociative disorders through cognitive neuroscience financial aid to understand "how the usual alterations of these patients in emotional processing, report or attention are related to changes in brain functioning". These alterations, he argues, "can be translated and manifested through Jesús Carmona's show".
Carmen Urpí (Education artistic) agrees with this last point, highlighting how a proposal "co-creator" of this subject can "bring the problem of mental health closer to the general public". In fact, CUN psychologist Francesco de Lorenzi values his participation in this initiative as "the opportunity to see how clinical and psychological language can be translated into artistic expression, and how the public can be led to a more empathetic and visceral understanding of these disorders".
"I see in this project a unique opportunity to unite psychology and art in an effort to destigmatize mental disorders," continues de Lorenzi. And he values the power that art has to touch people "in a way that psychiatry or traditional psychology cannot always do," so he takes the opportunity to "explore new ways to communicate and humanize the experiences related to these disorders."
María Asunción Pastor, from the Cima University of Navarra, makes her contribution from neuroscience, thanks to the research in motor control and learning. "At Cima we have always been interested in seeing brain plasticity with learning, by means of functional magnetic resonance techniques, even during aging. Jesús Carmona asks how the physical impairments of aging, for example, affect the psyche. How they affect our personality, which adapts or transforms with the relationship between different societies and social groups. What weight does one's own personality or grouphave," he explains. And he believes that this initiative of the MUN has "a huge appeal" by offering "a practical interdisciplinary dialogue between artists and researchers from various fields in Humanities and sciences on an original dance work that is being developed".
The relationship between Carmona and MUN, however, is not new. Already in 2021 the dancer got on its stage with Baile de bestias, moment from which, tells the artist, the relationship has been very good and, in fact, he expects it to "keep growing". "The human side is what I would highlight the most. That made Baile de bestias a success," he confesses. In addition, the university context presents itself as an ideal environment for an artist, interested in young audiences, and looking for an exploration of new aesthetics and artistic forms within flamenco.
A moment of the work
Súper viviente is part of the VII edition of the Museum in Dance. Another of the great figures included in this program is the new director of the National Dance Company, Muriel Romero (Stocos Institute) with the premiere of Incubatio. Until August 31 there is a 15% discount for advance sales for all proposals. In addition, a season ticket can be purchased for Súper viviente, La argentina en París ( Antonio Najarro Company) and Go Figure (Sharon Fridman Company).
Museo en Danza positions the MUN as a center of reference letter for contemporary dance, including newly created works, thanks to the synergies of this subject and artistic residencies that enhance communication between artists, researchers from different fields and the university community.
