An active, current and re-contextualized scenic reflection, inspired by the human zoos made at the Universal Exhibition "Jardin Zoologique d'Acclimatation" in Paris at the end of the 19th century.
Fair of attractions where they exhibited, in the eyes of European citizens, natives from different latitudes of the world, for being considered savages, barbarians and exotics. Kidnapped and locked in bars against their will for the curiosity, amusement and perversity of visitors.
Nuevo Zoologique
Mexicano
Interactive performance
​ Nuevo Zoologique Mexicano reflects on how the exotic and otherness are configured from the exhibition of the body of the other, the exercise of the gaze, the exercise of power and the superiority of the one who looks. ​
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How is the exotic used as entertainment and construction of identity?
How does the state exercise power and domination by defining certain practices as identitarian, patriotic and folkloric?
What are the colonialist logics and behaviors that are still embedded in us?
What does the gaze of the “other” or looking at the “other” do about identity?
Is identity constructed and reaffirmed from the exhibition of "that which I am not"?
How is the exoticization of bodies, customs and the colonization of the gaze still being exercised today, in our artistic and cultural context?
How does our actions determine the presence of the police?
Who is the other?
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These are some questions raised by the performance.
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The monstrous and the indigenous set the parameters of normality and racial superiority within the colonial logic of power. The colonizer perceives himself as superior, with the authority to enunciate and define otherness. In this device the figure of the monster is displayed as a representation of the limits of alterity. All monsters, all alterities: The policeman, the dancer and the one who watches. In a role play where we can see that we are in a system in which we move from one role to another.
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Nuevo Zoologique Mexicano oscillates between performance, dance, theatricality and museum exhibition. It cannot be pigeonholed into a single scenic device, rather it works as a power device that in its actions generates a crossroads of meanings and allows reflection on the questions installed on all the bodies that circulate there.
The proposed device distances the folkloric dance by putting it in an exhibition space, a showcase, and allows the viewer to trigger the dancer's dance to see in his expert performance, the exotic and beautiful of his dance. Through the action, a reflection will be generated in the public.
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performance does not provide answers. It generates questions, provokes contradictions, mirrors identities, ways of relating, mechanisms and power relations.
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NUEVO ZOOLOGIQUE MEXICANO was born within the framework of the "Diploma in Research Practices, Dance, Choreography and Performance ¿Cómo encender un fósforo?" 2017-2018, in Mexico. The performance premieres at the Cultural Center of Spain in Mexico CCEMx and at the Museo Universitario del Chopo, in May 2018.
Encuentro Emergentes 2019 - España. Alberto Montes y Rolando Hernández
Encuentro Emergentes 2019 - España. Danza Jarana Yucateca
Equipo
Encuentro Emergentes 2019 - España. Alberto Montes y Rolando Hernández
NUEVO MEXICANO ZOOLOGIQUE has been presented at the Museo Universitario del Chopo CDMX and at the Cultural Center of Spain in Mexico CCEMx, within the framework of the "International Festival of Dance, Choreography and Performance: Encender un Fósforo 2018"; at the "International Festival of young creators in Performing Arts - Encuentro Emergentes 2019", Seville, Spain. It was part of "Festival de Barrios y Pueblos" of the Secretary of Culture of the Cdmx 2019.
In 2021 it was presented in its virtual format within the framework of the festival "FEYENTUN: First virtual festival of Performing Arts of Original Nations / Chile-Mexico".
In 2022 it will be part of the face-to-face programming of the CDMX Theater System.
About music and dance
The selection of the musical pieces was made with the purpose of covering different styles of folk dance in Mexico, looking for a geographical diversity, and that they were dances linked to the tapping and the act of striking the floor. Rescuing this action of hitting the ground that is present in traditional dances and Mexican folk dances. Thus, the 9 selected dances function as a catalog of the country's folklore, making a cross with the concept of museography, catalog and zoo, where the public can visit as a diorama, a country. It is a scenic gesture that criticizes logic reductionist and extractive, making a parallel with human zoos. In the same way, it seeks to reflect on how it is still done today in folk dance shows, composed and thought of as a catalog of exotic and tourist shows.
Nuevo Zoologique Mexicano
Direction and Creation: Rosa Landabur Parada
Performer and movement research: Alberto Montes Performer and musical selection: Rolando Hernández
Scenic design: Aurelio Palomino
Production: Landabur & Cía.
Rosa Landabur- Chile: Stage director, stage artist, actress, cultural manager and teacher.
Aurelio Palomino- Mexico: Scenic Designer, set designer, lighting designer, costume designer and art director.
Rolando Hernández- Mexico: Sound artist, curator, researcher and performer.
Alberto Montes- Mexico: Dancer specialized in Mexican folklore, performer, researcher, sociologist and dance teacher.