© La Ribot
Artistic direction La Ribot et Asier Puga Choreography and staging La Ribot Dancers Juan Loriente, La Ribot Musical direction Asier Puga Arrangements, original composition and electronic music Iñaki Estrada Sound space and electronic music Álvaro Martín Musicians Grupo Enigma Víctor Parra, violin, Xavier Olivar, alto, Zsolt G. Tottzer, cello, Fernando Gómez, flute, Emilio Ferrando, clarinet, Joan Germán Oliveros, saxophone, Juan Carlos Segura, synthesizer Polyphonic choir Schola Cantorum Paradisi Portae
Rubén Larrea Perálvarez, alto, Alberto Palacios Guardia, tenor, Marcos Castrillo Sampedro, teenor Alberto Cebolla Royo, baritone Consultant in musicology Alberto Cebolla Dramaturgy Jaime Conde Salazar Lighting design Éric Wurtz Costume design Elvira Grau Costume making Elvira Grau, Marion Schmid Technical direction Marie Prédour Executive production and distribution Aude Martino, José Miguel Gonzàlez Coordination Grupo Enigma Pepa García Gómez Communication Iris Obadia Administration Gonzague Bochud Production La Ribot Ensemble, OCAZEnigma
Show / Dance / Music
The result of the encounter between the conductor Asier Puga and the choreographer La Ribot, Juana ficción poetically revisits the story of Queen Juana I de Castilla, the legitimate queen of Spain who was imprisoned for 46 years.
Juana I de Castilla (1479-1555) was imprisoned in the palace of Tordesillas after the death of her husband Philip of Habsburg, known as Philip the Handsome, with the support of her parents, the Catholic Monarchs, and later her son, Charles V. Considered to be demented, the legitimate Queen of Spain remained a recluse away from power and the social world for 46 years.
In 1992, La Ribot was already approaching this figure of Spanish history. Coinciding with the commemoration of the fifth centenary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World and the celebration of this colonial and masculine history, La Ribot created El triste que nunca os vido, a duet for a woman and a man inspired by the life of Juana, which she performed with the actor Juan Loriente.
Thirty years later, the duo reunites to question the life in captivity of this woman, who disappeared in her time and has been relegated to madness in official Spanish history. Through its sound work and particular attention to the movement of the sun and nightfall, Juana ficción gives an experience of the mental universe of the queen, on the fringes of the world, in the tireless repetition of the days.
With Asier Puga, La Ribot has created a work in which dance and music, technology and history are in constant dialogue. The duet formed by Juan Loriente and La Ribot is accompanied by seven soloists from Grupo Enigma and a polyphonic choir.
As a tribute to the queen’s taste for the musical innovations of her time, in Juana ficción, ancient music blends with contemporary electronic music. Iñaki Estrada composed the original music based on the Cancionero, the collection of songs given to Juana I de Castila and Philip the Handsome at their wedding. The ensemble of soloists from Grupo Enigma, directed by Asier Puga, drew inspiration from the works of Juan del Encina, Antonio de Cabezón and Cristóbal de Morales, among others. The music composed at the time is presented in its original structure, adapted, or filtered using contemporary and electronic techniques.