Jordi Savall celebrates a Creole party at the Liceu

Barcelona"It's a journey back to the 18th century, to the richness of a people who expressed themselves through music and dance. It's music that touches the heart," explains Jordi Savall about the Creole festivalwhich he is conducting this Thursday at the Gran Teatre del Liceu (7:30 p.m.). "They are not courtly dances. The Creole festival "It's conceived from a different angle, that of the people dancing for the people, for the sheer joy of dancing," says Mexican choreographer María del Carmen Ochoa. "My work is about freezing time, and I've constructed a very imaginative, dreamlike narrative, following the songs," says artist Santi Moix. "Without everyone's involvement," as the maestro says, everyone has created a unique spectacle featuring musicians from Le Concert des Nations and the Tembembe Ensamble Continuo, singers from La Capilla Real de Cataluña, and dancers from the ArteSon Danza México company, in addition to the visual work created by Moix specifically for the performance. Creole festival

The common thread stems from the Trujillo Codex of Peru, commissioned by Baltasar Jaime Martínez de Compañón, Bishop of Trujillo (Peru), at the end of the 18th century, which includes some twenty musical scores and more than 1,400 watercolors. "The twenty pieces that make up the musical compilation of the codex represent an exceptional case in the history of the indigenous music of the New World. They allow us to understand a repertoire specific to the traditions of the Viceroyalty of Peru in the 18th century," says Savall. Martínez de Compañón, "an enlightened man" during the reign of Charles III, commissioned a musicologist to "notate the music that was played and danced" in the viceroyalty. "There were no Hispanic or European composers behind these pieces of folk music, sung in Spanish, Quechua, and Mochica, the product of a broader cultural fusion that evolved in various ways, such as the flamenco's "cantos de ida y vuelta" (songs of return) or the chacona. One of the codex's strengths is that it includes a wealth of choreographic and musical instructions, such as "singing and dancing," and watercolors depicting the musicians with their instruments, costumes, and even dance steps. "Using the codex, we were able to create the costumes for the performance, which reflect the syncretism of what was happening in 18th-century Latin America. The use of the handkerchief was also very important in these dances," Ochoa explains. The Trujillo Codex, which is kept in the Royal Library of Madrid, "is a marvel, one of the most important documents of the Baroque period in America," as Leopoldo Novoa, musical and choreographic advisor of the Creole festival

The show will feature pieces from the codex (fifteen of which will be choreographed), as well as the guajira. Downpour, light rainAccording to Savall, this will close "the concert in a more contemporary and festive way." Accompanying the music and dance will be the creations of Santi Moix, who has worked from the songs and his own experiences in the Ecuadorian jungle. "The songs have led me to a series of images, some darker and more critical, and others more hopeful, because my job is to inspire everyone and bring everyone together," says Moix, who also incorporates an olfactory component: Liceu audience members will be able to smell three essences reminiscent of the Mediterranean sea after rain. "I want the audience to disconnect through smell," Moix explains.