Barcelona is dancing

If you've got the urge to dance, there's no better week to do it. April 29th is International Dance Day, and on this date and on the days before and after, the city is full of proposals related to this art in places such as La Caldera, the Sant Antoni market and the Barceloneta Civic Centre.

International Dance Day is celebrated on 29 April to pay tribute to a form of human expression without any language, cultural or political barriers. The day is celebrated on the birthday (29 April 1727) of Jean-Georges Noverre, a French dancer and ballet teacher who is considered to be the creator of modern ballet or contemporary ballet.

This year's manifesto in Catalonia has been written by the heads of the Empordà cooperative Agitart and calls for a more prominent presence on Catalan stages and asks the authorities to facilitate "sustainability, access and participation" of the population in this discipline.

Almost everywhere in the world, this day is celebrated. In Barcelona it takes the stage in spaces such as the Sant Antoni market, where on 29 April at 1 p.m. the company Big Bouncers (Mireia de Querol, Anna Rubirola and Cecilia Colacrai) performs the choreography with music by Miquel Casaponsa Plata. It is a piece that takes place in unconventional spaces and claims the public space. The work, which won the Critics' Prize, offers a collective artistic experience that you should not miss.

Among others, the International Dance Day has as its epicentres in Barcelona spaces specifically devoted to the arts of movement such as La Caldera. The Les Corts team has reached agreements with neighbourhood organisations to organise inclusive events with local organisations. They have collaborated this year with the CHN Mental Health Group, which works from a comprehensive community mental health perspective.

In La Caldera they have invited everyone who wants to come on the 29th (5.30 pm). There they will present short dance proposals, read the manifesto of the Associació de Professionals de la Dansa de Catalunya and invite everyone.... to dance!

The dance festival organised by La Caldera includes pieces such as El baile de la zurda, by the company La Cerda, the presentation of Descobrir, a piece resulting from the Taller de dansa inclusiva del Centre Cívic Pere Quart, directed by Toni Mira and, finally, L'hora del vermut, a community dance-theatre piece directed by Inés Boza.

There are still more proposals for movement to celebrate International Dance Day. The Centre Cívic Barceloneta will also host a number of well-known names from the dance scene on 29 April at 5 pm. There you will find three proposals to see in a row: in the centre's auditorium, the Cia. La Quebrà presents Precària. Ballar i altres maneres de morir, a solo full of irony by the dancer Irene García about the daily life of an independent dancer and creator in this country. At the same event, the Elelei Company (Rafa Jagat and Sabrina Gargano) will present the show Too Much, a combination of dance, theatre and acrobatics with a touch of humour that is tailor-made for all audiences. El Desvío, on the other hand, turns the burden of bureaucracy into movement, with all the harshness and absurdity it entails in La (des)espera. And, finally, The Concept Company offers us Nakama (a Japanese word that identifies those people with whom we have such an intimate relationship that we consider them family), a mixture of contemporary and urban dance.

In addition to these celebrations, remember that there are dance creations that are on the Barcelona billboard and that are good shows to see on these days when the arts of movement are celebrated.

And there are also small-scale proposals that begin on 27 April, with a route through the neighbourhood of Sants that proposes different places in the neighbourhood (La Turbo, Pla Roig, el Casinet or the cooperative La Lleialtat; from 10. 30 to 14 h); with meetings of dance schools from Clot and Poblenou at Bogatell beach (18-19 h), with street performances such as the choreography Invocación, by Carmen Muñoz (18 h); or, from 19 to 20.30, at the Sala Basiana de la Nau Bostik, with the theatre and cosmic dance piece La doctora de l'aire, in which Sílvia Cuesta will talk about love.

These are just some of the many proposals to celebrate the International Dance Day. For more information, check out the full agenda of activities of the Associació de Professionals de la Dansa de Catalunya.