Escambo: Bailar en la infancia

“Creation, as such, is completed through the dynamic participation of the spectator, who becomes a participant.”
— Hélio Oiticica

About the project

Bailar en la infancia combines the contemporary dance performance Escambo, created in 2019, with a movement workshop, offering two complementary ways of approaching dance: as a spectator and through direct bodily participation.

Escambo, created specifically for children, offers a playful and sensory journey through scents, colours, rhythms and movement. The performance brings everyday materials into the choreographic space and turns them into tools for exploration and imagination.

The movement workshop extends this experience and lets participants enter the world of dance through contemporary dance, object manipulation, improvisation and theatre.

The body as a place of play

Bailar en la infancia is based on a methodology developed and tested to bring contemporary dance closer to early-childhood audiences through direct bodily experience.

Escambo is inspired by the research of Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica, especially his way of understanding the artwork as a space of participation and experience. For Oiticica, the body and participation transform the relationship between artwork and spectator, who stops occupying a passive place and becomes an active part of the experience.

This perspective is carried into the world of childhood: children are not only spectators, but can relate to the materials, the space, movement and the senses through play and curiosity.

The workshop uses the materials of Escambo as teaching tools: the 50 oranges become a starting point to explore movement, space, rhythm, relationships and the senses.

The proposal understands dance as a shared experience, in which the body, objects and space build the game together. The methodology seeks to foster artistic sensitivity, creativity and personal development from an early age, allowing each participant to find their own ways of perceiving and experiencing movement.

Bailar en la infancia has been presented in different cities in Spain, Brazil and Equatorial Guinea, bringing this experience to diverse cultural and social contexts.

Artistic team

Concept and general direction: Mari Paula
Choreography: Mari Paula · Wody Santana
Performers: Mari Paula · Ximena Carnevale / Araitz Lasa · Laura García Carrasco
Movement direction: Wody Santana
Sound design: Jo Mistinguett
Costume design: Mari Paula · Wody Santana
Production and touring: Adrián Torices
Distribution: Sit and See – Raquel Jiménez · Iñaki Díez

Produced by: Mari Paula – Dance & Performance
Supported by: Culture Promotion Programme of the Government of the State of Paraná · La Reunión en Danza – Tan Cerca Programme of Fundación Santander Creativa

Format: dance performance · movement workshop · early childhood and childhood audiences · non-conventional spaces