Page 139 - Results 2015: AC/E Programme for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture

PERFoRMInG ARTSArtiClE139/reckons, is on of the great challenges facing Spanish dance.Despite his rsthand experience of the country, Cienfuegos shies away from pinning down the current status of Chinese danceas “it is a very big country with an awful lot to o er. I only know these two festival but there are many more.” Despite the di erences between Chinese and Spanish staging, Cienfuegos believes there are many unifying elements. “ e language of movement is universal on many levels and we sharemany common ideas and formations. Idon’t think we are so far removed from each other because the language of dance, the vocabulary of movement, allows you to nd common points of communication.”In that context, Cienfuegos subscribes to the same opinion o ered to El Culturala few months ago by Korea’s Jong-HoLee, director and founder of SIDance Festival (Seoul International Dance Festival), regarding the increased opening up of Asiatic dance to the rest of theworld. “ ere is not only an opening up but also a growing demand. I mean the interest is growing both in exportingand in importing.” And that presents an opportunity Cienfugos believes the Spanish sector cannot let pass by: “ e dynamics are changing. ere is a growing need for communication to ow and for bridges to be stretched in both directions. ere is huge potential opening for us in Asia and we must act to grasp that opportunity.”On Spain, and after fteen years heading his company, Cienfuegos says it is essentialto keep “ ghting the ght” and making steps forward. But in the past four or ve years many steps backwards havebeen taken, he reckons: “ e number of companies that have vanished, the array of projects that have not been able to move forward, the mediocre infrastructures made available for independent companies, the cuts, the inexplicable 21% VAT imposition... All these things have combined to slamthe brakes on the pace we were gaining previously.” But despite the “exhaustion” the sector is su ering, it will continue striving day by day to keep progressing.Looking ahead, Cienfuegos is not worried about artistic quality issues but, rather, about the sector’s structural issues. “ ere are a lot of ideas and a lot of talent. In fact, I believe there are a lot of Spanish passport holders among dance companies abroad. But here, in Spain, they do not have the chance to realise there true capacity,” he says. Cienfuegos pinpoints the main aims of Spanish dance now to be the establishment of a strongand extensive professional base made up of specialists and with solid economic support. “And there I don’t mean subsidies; I’mtalking about programming, about importing and exporting products. Talking about money is often confused with demanding public subsidies. But what I’m asking for is real economic support: better programming and international competitiveness and better mechanisms for independent companies to operate in the world. e key problem is the lack of strong professional, organisational and business backing. We lack that. And that makes everything so much harder.”