Asian allies

This year’s El Grec Festival has an Asian flavour to it. While this provides a contrast to the festival’s western elements, it also establishes points of contact where the two traditions meet. The first example of these marriages is the opening show in which Oriol Broggi will put on his version of Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mesopotamian poem written on clay tablets in around 2100 BC and discovered in the cradle of civilisation, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where east and west meet.

As for works by Asian authors, we could highlight Xenos, a dance performance choreographed by Akram Khan (who has links with the ballets C de la B company and who is no stranger to Barcelona), or Korea’s Eun-Me Ahn: Dancing grandmothers, with its dance that appeals to a broad public, as does Pine Smoke by the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan.

Two examples of fusions see Andrés Corchero share his butoh dance with Japanese dancer Oguri in My Neighbor Sky. Meanwhile, Teatro de los sentidos (based in the Polvorí de Montjuïc since 2003) experiments with new forms with the Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio of Hong Kong. Based on Sun Tzu’s classic work, The Art of War, they create a four-hour interactive performance at the CCCB. Then, plaça Margarida Xirgu will be the venue for a performance by the Barcelona Coral Àsia choir, while on July 14 there is a picnic with the DJ Bollywood providing the vibes.