events - Sharjah Art Foundation

A theatrical mise-en-scène with video projections, fashionable costumes, sensuality and social criticism, ‘Trópico de Covadonga’ offers a humoured and highly theatrical dialogic commentary on society, wired to the roots of Spanish folklore, riddled with provocative speech, lucid language, hedonism and beautiful contemporary choreography.

Rodrigo Cuevas performing Trópico de Covadonga, Image Courtesy Centro Botin, Santander, Spain

Overview

A theatrical mise-en-scène with video projections, fashionable costumes, sensuality and social criticism, ‘Trópico de Covadonga’ offers a humoured and highly theatrical dialogic commentary on society, wired to the roots of Spanish folklore, riddled with provocative speech, lucid language, hedonism and beautiful contemporary choreography.

The show presents Cuevas as a complete performer. The artist focuses his energy on singing songs from his latest album ‘Manual de Cortejo’, dancing and spinning a show that eclipses its musical category and aesthetics.

In ‘Trópico de Covadonga’, Cuevas adopts a perspective far removed from ethnocentrism, which is why it appeals to people from both the rural and the urban world. The performance is devised as an experience that lets people look at the past in a romanticised and idealised way because oral transmissions not only involve sharing knowledge and art, but also the values of the community, the same humanist values that the artist wants to expand on: freedom, social creed and beauty.

Trópico de Covadonga is the third solo stage show by Rodrigo Cuevas. His first two shows, ‘Electrocuplé’ and ‘El Mundo por Montera’, have had more than 100 performances throughout Spain, including Santander, León, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Santiago de Compostela, Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid and Fira de Tárrega, Huesca Theatre Fair, where it won the Audience Award for the Best Play, as well as overseas in Lima, London, Rome and Frankfurt.

Trópico de Covadonga premiered in June 2019 at San Marcelo Square in León and Teatro Español in Madrid as part of ZIP Festival. Subsequently, it was presented at several Spanish venues, such as Castillo de Ainsa Festival in Huesca and Fira de Tarrega, Barcelona I + Poetry Festival, among others.

‘Trópico de Covadonga’ features Rodrigo Cuevas (vocals, percussion, accordion, electronics), Mapi Quintana (double bass, vocoder, panderos, palmas) and Juanjo Díaz (percussion).

Hosted by Sharjah Art Foundation in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain to the UAE and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, this performance will take place in Arts Square, Al Shuweiheen.

This event is free and open to the public.