• Català
  • Castellano
  • English
Areas Social action Culture and Historical Heritage

L'Illa a Escena, an initiative touting local theatre acts, is back

cartell illa a escenaThe Formentera Council's Office of Culture presents L'Illa a Escena 2018, a lineup of performing arts and music acts ready to take the island by storm in the first half of the year. Roughly translated as “The Island on Stage”, L'Illa a Escena's offering of all-audiences shows aims to promote and foment culture on the island.

The island's cinema, the Sala de Cultura, will be the stage for a diverse smattering of artistic forms and styles stretching from theatre and dance to circus and entertainment for children.

January
First up, set to take place this Saturday, January 27, is the second Cantada Pagesa, brought to Formentera audiences by the traditional music wing of the island's Escola de Música i Dansa. More than a dozen singers, some new at the game and others seasoned veterans, will take the stage to interpret traditional Formentera songs of the glosat and redoblat forms.

The free concert begins Saturday at 8.30pm in the Sala de Cultura.

February
Next month, on the Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics-backed TalentIB circuit, Formentera will host “Abans que arribi l'alemany”, the first place winner of the region's second tournament of Catalan play-writing. Told from the perspective of a person recently diagnosed with Alzheimers, this adult show speaks to facing reality and adversities head on and an individual's right to arbiter decisions in his or her own life. How would you react? Could you handle it? How would you live with it afterwards?

Brought to the stage by the Produccions de Ferro theatre troupe, “Abans que arribi l'alemany” can be seen for two nights, Thursday the 8th and Friday the 9th, at la Mola's Casa del Poble. Admission is pay what you wish.

Opera fans will have something to talk about this February with “La Novena de Bethoven” (Beethoven's Ninth). Directed by Zubin Mehta and recorded at the Milan Cathedral, this extraordinary musical event took place on June 3, 2017 to mark the site's 650th anniversary.

The Sala de Cultura's screening of the show is set for Saturday, February 10 at 8.00pm. Admission is eight euros.

Also in February and still on the TalentIB circuit it's the perennial children's favourite, “Les Aventures de Gepetto i Pinotxo”. The company behind the show, La Fornal d'Espectacles, boasts 25 plus years of experience in culture and the performing arts. Carlo Collodi's 1881 classic unfolds in a tiny Italian village, where two old friends meet and decide to construct a puppet. Their creation, Pinotxo, will be the son Gepetto has always wanted. But, a born troublemaker, the little wooden boy will be anything but what his father had in mind. Assorted adventures ensue.

Tickets for the production, which hits Formentera's Sala de Cultura at 6.00pm on Saturday, February 17, are three euros.

At the end of the month, islanders can enjoy a recital of piano and Spanish music entitled “Evocación”. Performers at this world-class pairing of music and dance (composers include Albéniz, Falla and Granados) will dust off a style of concert rarely used today. “Evocación” is a performance by pianist, composer and Formentera chorus director Jose Jaime Hidalgo de la Torre and dancer and choreographer Nieves Portas. Both seasoned, world-class artists currently teach at Formentera's Escola de Música i Dansa.

The recital is scheduled for 8.30pm on Saturday, February 24 at the Sala de Cultura. Admission to the event is three euros.

March
The month starts out with a screening of “Moisés a Egipte”. This opera, which is based on the Israelites' exodus from Egypt under the guidance of Moses, has a romantic twist: the tenor voice, Amenofis, who is the son of the Pharaoh, plots to prevent the object of his affection, Israelite (and soprano) Anaïs, from departing.

The recording will be shown in the Sala de Cultura on Saturday, March 3 at 8.00pm. Admission is eight euros.

A week later, on March 10, it's “Els Mijorals de Don Mariano”, Eivissa troupe Es Molí's show for the whole family. Centred on the figure of Mariano Llobet, this traditionalist comedy recreates life in the Eivissa countryside for a family of mijorals in post-war 1950s.

Free to attend, this production will be at the Sala de Cultura on Saturday at 8.30pm.

Also in March, the island's theatre-going public will be treated to actress/creator Vicka Duran's “Domenica”. The tale of Lourdes, apart from a love story, is also one in which the emotional landscape is wrought by hope, frustration and pain. At the crux of the conflict is the difference between love in the physical and spiritual sense, as encapsulated by two words for love: estimar and voler. In Romance languages the two verbs represent a peculiar pair that, though expressing discrete concepts, are curiously often used synonymously.

For three euros, islanders can see “Domenica” at the Sala de Cultura on Saturday, March 17 at 8.30pm.

April
This April, a duo of works about poet/artist Blai Bonet come to Formentera at the hands of Tshock Cultura Emocional. "Oficis al carrer" is a stage production and "El teatre de Blai Bonet" is a documentary focussing on Bonet's status as a playwright.

Oficis al carrer” dates back to 1985, when it a student of the Escola Bisbe Verger in Santanyí wrote it as a year-end project. Today, 33 years later, the production has reunited the original cast, who will once again pay tribute to the town of Santanyí's unique trades of bygone times: the desaig, the tailor, the embroiderer, the escorxaribella, the knife sharpener, the rag-and-bone man.

Admission to the all-audiences show, which hits the Sala de Cultura on Saturday, April 14 at 8.30pm, is free.

For Formentera's younger crowds, Menorcan theatre group S'Espai de Circ presents "El Viatge d'en Filo Cordafil". In this fusion of circus, theatre and dance, Tall and his mates invite audiences along for a funny and fantastic journey during which all manner of objects morph into incredible characters. A surprising tale, full of fun, emotion and values, with a painstakingly well-groomed mise en scène that will lead us deep into a world rich in imagination.

When the show hits the island's Sala de Cultura on Sunday, April 15 at 5.30pm, tickets will be three euros.

Support for culture
L'Illa a Escena is made possible by TalentIB, a programme of the Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics to support the performing arts.

Sant Ferran launches town's newest library outlet

Punt de lectura redux 2The Formentera Council's Office of Culture reports on the opening in Sant Ferran from yesterday of the island's newest punt de lectura, or “reading zone”. Located next to the Office of Environment at 13, carrer Mallorca, the space is open from Monday to Friday, 4.00pm to 8.30pm.

It is divided into three different nooks: an area for adults, with novels in Catalan and Castilian plus a selection of international books and magazines and newspapers; a kids' area, arrayed with books and games; and a technology lab, equipped with two computers with Internet access.

In addition to regular library services, Sant Ferran's reading zone will host activities for children like storytelling, creative workshops and film screenings. Adults, meanwhile, can take part in discussions, presentations and assorted courses. A display case will also include a rotating selection of featured books from the Biblioteca Marià Villangómez collection.

Culture secretary Susana Labrador explained how space limitations were to blame when the former punt de lectura, housed in the actual school, shuttered several months ago. She promised the Council's creation of the new reading zone would mean “a breadth of programming not just for children, but for adolescents and adults as well”. The project to create the space cost roughly €20,000.

Supervised courtyard
The move comes alongside efforts to open and animate the Bob Baldon park, which occupies the Sant Ferran school courtyard under an agreement between the Council. Monday to Saturday, a Council agent opens the school gates at 4.00pm and closes them again at 7.00pm. Activities like Formentera Marxa enliven the space on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday.

Three Kings of the East bring holiday mirth to Formentera this Friday

Foto Reis magsThe Formentera Council's Office of Festivities announces that this Friday, January 5 at 5.00pm, their Majesties the Three Kings of the East will pay their yearly visit to the island. After tying up at the port in la Savina, their Highnesses, page boys and the so-called “Royal Committee” will take to decorated floats as they set out on a tour of the towns of the island.

From la Savina the cavalcade will sally up the main road for an expected 6.00pm arrival in Sant Francesc. Once there, the c will advance into town, mounting carrer Jaume I as they inch toward plaça de la Constitució. There, following a stop at the town's church to give tidings to the baby Jesus, they will pop across the square to the Formentera Council, where from their perch on the overlooking balcony they will greet the people of the village and receive an official welcoming from Council officials.

At approximately 7.00pm, the Kings will roll into Sant Ferran, where they will make their way to the square via carrer Major and offer tidings at the church. The Kings will appear before revellers at the festival tent and children of the town will be able to claim their gifts.

The cavalcade is due to arrive in la Mola at round about 8.00pm. The Kings, making their way down the avinguda, will pull in at the square next to the town's church, before entering the building for the long-awaited moment: distributing their freight of gifts to the boys and girls of the town.

Youngsters in Sant Francesc will have to wait for their presents until Saturday, January 6. That drop-off will play out in Ca ses Monges following Kings' Mass, which starts at 11.00am in the Sant Francesc church.

Entertainment
As the young and old of Formentera's towns await the arrival the Kings this year, they will have circus show entertainment to tide them over too. For 11 years, Circ Bover have shared their original, modern blend of cutting-edge circus acts to national and world audiences. Their assorted act includes live music, theatre and dance.

This year as in those past, the Three Kings of the East come from far-off lands to fill the streets of the island with joy, magic and, while they are at it, gifts and sweets (the cavalcade will carry in tow 270kg of gluten-free candies).

The Formentera Council wishes to thank all those who have made the Three Kings' visit possible: Formentera churches and associated youth volunteer groups, Associació Reis Mags, Casal de Joves, Baleària, Pitiüsa Sud, Llibreria Tur Ferrer, Hostal Bellavista, Frutos Secos Ibiza, Carbòniques Tur, the crew of the Arabian Nights pleasure craft, the Formentera farmers' co-operative and the Council brigade.

Stars of 2018 calendar: grapes

Foto calendari 2018 oacThe Formentera Council language department has released its 2018 calendar of 12 different kinds of grapes. With 2,000 copies printed, the Council is giving them away for free at the Citizen Information Office (OAC), the Sant Francesc library and the hospital. Each month comes with a photograph and a short feature on one of 12 grape varieties.

Last year's calendar spotlighted 12 photos concerning prehistoric Formentera. The Council began using the calendars in 2011 to showcase aspects of Formentera's history or popular culture and encourage locals to resurrect certain words. Past editions have turned on local trivia (a special edition which included questions and answers), highlights of the 20th century, Marià Villangómez, farming tools, fishing tackle, figs, prehistory and now grapes. The approximate cost of the calendars was €4,000.

Tremendos headline New Year's concert in Sant Ferran

Tremendos grup de versions autor de la foto santi iglesias reduxThe Formentera Council's Office of Culture and Festivities announces that New Year's Eve celebrations on the island will be headed up by the band Tremendos. From 1.00am, Catalunya's turbocharged contribution to the country's body of cover bands will provide the tunes as the crowd in the Sant Ferran festival tent rings in 2018.

Tremendos are six musicians whose enduring run in the music game today provides them with a repertoire of anthems from the eighties, nineties and noughts that resonate with a breadth of generations. Their music includes everything from well-known classics in Castilian (Los Secretos, La Guardia, Tequila, Ramoncín, Seguridad Social, El Último de la Fila, Fito y los Fitipaldis, Morat [Como te atreves], Celtas Cortos, Efecto Pasillo...) to the beloved Catalan favourites (Sopa de Cabra, Txarango, Els Catarres, La Pegatina...) with international hits like AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' and Guns'N'Roses' cover of 'Knocking on Heaven's door' thrown in the mix too.

As she extended her own holiday greetings to the people of Formentera, culture secretary Susana Labrador told islanders a little about what to expect from the New Year's Eve performance. “Tremendos are in a league of their own in music”, she said, assuring that the group's brand of “freshness and variety” are just what Formentera's Christmas holidays need. Tremendos were awarded Musicat's 100% live music quality seal and the 2011 Arc award for best cover band by the professional association of representatives, promoters and mangers of Catalunya.

More Articles...

Page 109 of 132

109

Xarxa de Biblioteques

Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics

Enciclopèdia d'Eivissa i Formentera