Àngels Margarit says goodbye to the Mercat de les Flors with a season full of large-format shows

BarcelonaNext season, the Mercat de les Flors will celebrate twenty years as a fully dedicated dance venue, and will do so with a program packed with large-scale performances. It will also be the last season with Àngels Margarit at the helm of the venue's management. after almost ten years in office"I'm leaving wanting to show a lot of diversity. I've tried to give space to all creations, especially those from the local scene, and to do my own production," Margarit said this Monday at the presentation of the new season. Her latest program includes "things I hadn't done yet and had to do," says the facility's director.

One of the main bets is Roser López Espinosa, who will open the season with a new creation titled Fable and produced by the Market. It will be a large-scale piece with eight dancers who will build a universe of fantastical creatures to celebrate "everything we can do together," says Margarit. Another highlight is The Quijá, by Paloma Muñoz, who has been an artist-in-residence for the season now ending. Muñoz will once again bring to the Mercat this production inspired by Siberia in Extremadura and filled with powerful images of bodies in motion. The piece, nominated for the Max Awards, "needed more opportunities for the public to get to know it," says the Mercat director.

As she has been doing over the years at the helm of the Mercat de les Flors, Margarit gives space to Catalan creators who have made a name for themselves on the international scene and who seek to bring their creations home. This is the case ofAina Alegre, which will present Fleeting, the second creation at the head of the National Centre of Grenoble, and also of Marina Mascarell, directed by the Danish Dance Theatre and will premiere in Barcelona Bloody moon. The company Miquel Barcelona will take Orgy, a piece that draws on research into counterculture, and Leonor Leal will build an intergenerational dialogue between flamenco dancers with Of voice, a bodyAmong the returns, Pere Faura stands out with the solo Pink method, which premiered in January at La Caldera, and Humanhood, which is now being presented in July Vortex at the Grec Festival and will later perform it again at the Mercat de les Flors.

International Artists

The 2025-2026 season will host large-scale performances from leading companies. For example, the Lorraine Ballet, which will present a double program under the direction of Maud La Pladec with more than twenty dancers on stage, and the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, directed by Ioannis Mandafounis, which will present a double program with choreography by Forsythe and Hauert. The National Contemporary Dance Company of Korea will make its debut in Barcelona, premiering Jungle, a production "with very powerful dancers and a special way of choreographing the bodies," says Margarit. The Hessen National Ballet will perform three pieces, including one with a heart on stage. It will be performed in Barcelona in collaboration with the Palau de la Música.

The Swedish group Jefta van Dinther will present a piece that will occupy the MACBA chapel for more than three hours and the Mozambican Idio Chichava, winner of the SEDA prize, will show his particular view on migration with the dance of thirteen dancers in Vagabundus"It's a very impactful piece based on voice and movement," Margarit reveals. At the national level, the Market will feature creators such as Daniel Abreu, Antonio Ruz, the Brazilian Madrid resident Poliana Lima (who will present three pieces), Patricia Caballero, Manuel Rodríguez, and Luz Arcas/La Pharmaco, who will be performing at the Barcelona venue for the first time.

Boosting young creators

Next season the Market will co-produce around twenty shows, featuring emerging artists from the cycle. The Market has not co-produced me yet: LosInformalls, Mar García and Javi Soler, Mabel Olea, Reinaldo Ribeiro, laSadcum and Maria Jurado. Among the young creators this season is Pol Jiménez, who is preparing Copla Coffee, a new solo inspired by the couplet. Dancer Natalia Fernandes will present the first piece as choreographer, Identified Nao Object, and We Are Novias - Wan will carry We are not a ghost.

Regarding the hybrid scene and other formats, the philosopher and dancer Laura Vilar Dolç has created a performative conference entitled Between gravities, while the company Fuera de Campo proposes a hand dance piece called A table of one's own. Dutch dancer Cherish Menzo has worked on the perception of black bodies in Darkmatter and L'Autre Maison will premiere Starting with the limbs.

Cycles and festivals

Next year the Mercat de les Flors will also host the cycle Making history(ies), focusing on the idea of memory and the importance of creating archives, will take place in late October and early November. Participating artists include Paz Rojo, Nivine Kallas, Omar Rajeh, Mar Aguiló, and Sara Manubens. The series Circus of right now, which the Mercat hosts biannually, will return next season with companies such as La Víspera, Los Galindos, Josianes, and Juan Carlos Panduro. While waiting to finalize other names in the program, Margarit emphasized "the importance of the Market giving a lot of space to the circus" with initiatives like this one. The Hop Festival will program "extremely powerful" names such as The Royal Gucci Ball, Andrea El Ameri, Iron Skulls, Majeko, Kae Brown Carvalho, Jerson Diasonama, and the Nassangar company.

El Petit, the performing arts festival focused on early childhood, will also return. Companies such as La Súbita, Taiat Dansa, Voël, and Blink Flash will perform. Beyond the festival, the facility is also programming other activities for children, such as Games within the game by Ceren Oran and Moving Borders. The jugglers Gandini Jugglin will be at the Mercat at Christmas with Heka and Prototype Status will install a large kaleidoscope with dancers inside Mirkids. Likewise, AzkonaToloza will continue talking about geology, but now with children from eight years old with My galactic refuge, and Roser López Espinosa will present Kite, a production for audiences aged six to ten.

Beyond the programming, the coming months—and years—of the Mercat de les Flors will be marked by the comprehensive renovation of the building. Until July 2026, the Mercat is expected to operate as it is now: with the restrooms and ticket offices located outside and with less programming and rehearsals in the Pina Bausch room, due to a lot of noise from the renovations. In 2027, and for 24 months, the exhibition halls will be closed. "The Mercat will have to have an external program, seek synergies and collaborations with other facilities," explains Margarit, "but this will be the job of the new management." The competition to select the new management is expected to be decided in the coming days and the selected person will join on September 15.