Today the Office of Culture of the Consell de Formentera presented the "L'Illa a Escena" programme of performing arts and music for the first quarter of 2023. Vanessa Parellada, acting councillor of culture, said the bill includes "eight productions of varied content, from theatre for children and adults, to concerts and music, like the fifth Cantada Pagesa, that exemplify our traditions."

Barnasants
The kick-off comes Saturday 4 February with ¡Nos queda la palabra!, a concert from singer-songwriter Paco Ibáñez.

Icon of the struggle for truth and freedom, internationalist and ambassador of the verse, Ibáñez delivers a concert that embodies love and dignity, advocating humanism in the face of 21st-century barbarism. Dressed in black, guitar in hand and orbited by excellent musicians on a stage that is at once bare-bones and beautiful, Ibáñez gives us songs of love, pure existentialism, struggle and resistance. Paired with the musical rhythms and the force of poetry, the show is raw and mournful, but also full of love and hope. Audiences will see Ibáñez bring to life the elegant melodies of his latest album alongside tracks from the artist's most iconic releases.

The 90-minute concert, which marks the opening of Barnasants in the Balearic Islands, will take shape in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema) from 8.30pm.

Children's production
Next up is Las Cotton, a puppet show for ages five and up presented by the Anita Maravillas theatre company.

The production follows the Cotton family's journey to the city in search of a new life and new opportunities. Among rooftops and city lights, amid the fabric, threads and machines of the factory, a mother and her two daughters will face new adventures and unknown perils. But, this time they are not alone, and they will throw themselves headlong into a quest for happiness.

The 50-minute production starts at 6.00pm, Saturday 11 February, at the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

Fifth Cantada Pagesa
The last event in February is the fifth Cantada Pagesa, organised by the traditional music department of the Formentera School of Music and Dance. Instructor Xomeu Joan will lead twenty-some students in a very special performance of traditional redoblat and glosat singing in solo, pairs and group. "Oral tradition must survive and be passed on, not just to new generations of singers but to the public at large, who are invited to this free concert", said Councillor Parellada.

The 90-minute concert starts at 8.00pm, Saturday 18 February, in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

Vicent Ferreret will lead a free workshop on traditional musical instruments in conjunction with the concert. The session will take place at 12 noon, Saturday 18 February, in the Plenary Hall (Sala de Plens) of the Consell de Formentera.

Balearic Islands Day
On Wednesday 1 March, Nomeolvides will mark the occasion of Balearic Islands Day.

The play follows a nephew who recalls his dearly departed uncle. He died several years ago, but the fateful day remains etched in the minds of family, friends and neighbours. Determined to honour his uncle, the young man embarks on a journey to retrace his life. And without realising it, the nephew becomes the object of the story, and remembers. Nomeolvides explores a playful, happy and luminous life of awakenings, but also a life of burdens, hidden memories, responsibilities and homosexuality. The uncle had a twin, the protagonist's mother. Nomeolvides also speaks to the loss of the departed and the loss of those who stay. To hear the lead characters tell it, the production is a call to live and a cry for freedom.

The 60-minute show takes place at 8.30pm, Wednesday 1 March, in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

The second show in March is Arrels d'Ara, a concert by artist Ángela Cervantes which is also part of the local Balearic Islands Day programme. Together with double bass player Manel Fortià and violinist and percussionist Carlos Montfort, Cervantes underscores the memory that impregnates the land and the roots each individual maintains through songs, poetry and tradition.

The 75-minute concert will start at 7.30pm, Saturday 4 March, in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

Children's production
In March, Aboon Theatre will perform their latest children's show, Baby Esferic.

A show for the whole family, but conceived especially for little ones aged six months to four years old, Baby Esferic is a tribute to the Earth and to those that will inherit it. Through various stories and landscapes, it speaks to the magic that binds us to the planet and to each other.

The 45-minute show starts at 6.00pm, Saturday 11 March, in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema). At the close of the show, the whole family will be able to come up, play and interact on stage.

Women's Day Recital
On Saturday 18 March, a women's piano recital will commemorate Women's Day.

In it, Anabel Mázquez Falero aims to give visibility to female composers overlooked in musical history. She will perform works by iconic female composers Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerra, Marianne von Martinez, Fanny Mendelsson, Clara Schumann and many more.

The free 50-minute show will get under way at 8.00pm, Saturday 18 March, in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

Theatre
Rounding out the first quarter of L'Illa a Escena 2023 is Ultramarinos' all-ages ¿Cuándo viene Samuel? on Saturday 25 March.

The production, a feature in several festivals, among them the Children's Performing Arts Fair of Europe (FETEN), where it won Best Show in 2022, is about two men who playfully wait by a swing set for Samuel to arrive to celebrate a party. At one point, the teacher passes by, imparts a lesson and leaves. Meanwhile, time passes, never stops passing and never, ever finishes passing. So, the pair continue to play, awaiting another day. And then they wonder: What if today was tomorrow? Perhaps, from their swing set perch, they can make their break.

The 65-minute show will start at 8.30pm, Saturday 25 March, in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

Prices and tickets
Children's productions are priced at €4 and shows for adults at €7. Unemployed individuals, under-employed freelancers, retirees, under-25s, single-parent families and large families pay half the price of admission. The fifth Cantada Pagesa and piano recital will be free of charge. Tickets go on sale at www.entradesformentera.cat the Friday of the week prior to each show. They can also be purchased at the box office half an hour before show time.

25 January 2023
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

The Office of Culture of the Consell de Formentera is pleased to report that from 7.30pm next Friday 20 January, the historians Artur Parron Guasch and Santi Colomar will offer a presentation of Parron's book El partit comunista a Eivissa i Formentera (1932-1979) at Marià Villangómez Library in Sant Francesc.

Parron traces the history of the communist party in the Pine Islands across several periods: the Second Spanish Republic, Spanish Civil War, Franco regime and early years of the Transition. The author, who is also the coordinator of Esquerra Unida d'Eivissa i Formentera, delves into the stories of the communists of Eivissa and Formentera in their struggle for democracy, with their victories and defeats.

Parron explains that gaps in the historical record of the fifties and sixties meant that writing the book was a fraught process: "In the middle of the dictatorship it was very difficult to document and date opposition activities on Eivissa and Formentera", he says, "so witnesses are one of the most important sources of information." The work is also a milestone in terms of the newspaper archives, Spanish Communist Party (PCE) records and other materials documented within.

Parron shows in El partit comunista... that "during the dictatorship, men and women of the PCE often constituted the humble, tenacious and only opposition to Franco's regime in the Pine Islands until the Transition, when the party's agitating, dialogue and ideological renunciations made it key to democratisation."

12 January 2023
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera