Second season of the dance show ‘Mandala’ arrives at the Sánchez Aguilar Theater

A 360-degree experience that brings together seven dancers in the same tune returns to the local stages. The second season of the dance show Mandala will be presented from this Thursday to Saturday in the Sánchez Aguilar Theater.

His choreographer Max McClure affirms that this season comes with new proposals. “We have updated the choreography to keep it fresh, but also because dance itself is a living art, it can be edited, it can be updated”, mentions the also dancer.

In this coincides Jessica Abouganem, general director of Forward, company that produces the work. She considers each performance something ephemeral that ends the moment it is done. “Every time this piece of Mandala Much of the feeling of the group and the things that arise in the moment. Even if they come from one function to another, they will see different things “, he comments.

“Our art is like that, we danced, we left our whole soul in space, and with the applause it was erased”, añade McClure.

He indicates that this starts from the many improvisational moments proposed from the scene by each artist, which allows them to enter into an interaction with the public. “That is something unpredictable, it will always be a unique presentation, because our interaction and change with the public will depend on the moment and on that call-response from the public”explains the artist.

He also mentions that the first presentation left him great lessons regarding the audience’s response. “We had as a proposal to break the fourth wall, and to get the public to not only observe that it is part of the work, but up to a certain point you don’t know how you are going to react, or how the public is going to respond. And now with this great rehearsal I was able to adapt it so that it functions better, according to public trends “, sostiene McClure.

This is born as a result of the training system ‘Dynamic focus’, methodology developed together with his wife, Cindy Corners, that tries, among other things, to develop the same language of movement among all the dancers, in order to work with the texture of the bodies and through a range of energy.

Mandala it also proposes a show that can be enjoyed from any perspective. “The work is set up in such a way that there is no front, the public can perceive the work from any side, and that is precisely why we have placed the public seats in 360 degrees”McClure notes.

The choreographer knows that it is not a work that speaks directly about the pandemic, but he feels it as his response to that need to have his community close. “Having the space enclosed, with all the public on the edge of our art forming part of what we are doing, that is like something that is feeding me an emptiness that has existed all this time, due to lack of closeness to my family”, expresses.

McClure and Abouganem define it as a joyful work or one that pretends to show optimism, which is connected to that representation of union that a mandala suggests. “Mandala In all this optimism that Max has proposed, he is also very liberating, he has introspective, meditative moments, because all of these are also elements of the mandala … “says Abouganem.

“The play invites play, dance, joy and celebration, in a space contained by a mandala, by a circle, by a round of people”, adds the artist.

They will be on stage Cindy Cantos, Javier León, Diego León, María Paula Maridueña, Gustavo Gómez, Tatiana Palma and Max McClure.

The performances are in the Third Room of the Sánchez Aguilar Theater on Thursday 18, Friday 19 and Saturday 20, at 8:00 p.m. The ticket has a cost of $ 25, it can be purchased through the website www.teatrosanchezaguilar.org, the application of the theater or ticket office.

The work will continue its tour of other cities in the country such as Loja and Quito. (I)