The 10 must-see shows at Fira Tàrrega

BarcelonaFira Tàrrega, one of the most important performing arts events in Catalonia, kicks off this Thursday and runs until Sunday with 54 shows and 10 international companies, in addition to the 28 Catalan companies and 16 from the rest of Spain. The 45th edition of the fair will have nearly 60% of companies performing for the first time and will include some important changes. To start with, the fair is bringing back the inaugural show and doing so with Interference 03 by Marco Salicrú. At the same time, this year's artistic activity will be concentrated in the center of Tàrrega, so spaces like Cal Trepat and the Escola Vedruna will no longer be stages. From this year's entire program, we've selected 10 shows not to be missed.

Marco Salicrú arrives in Tàrrega ready to shake up the city with a new Interference, the urban concert that brings together municipal workers, police officers, bus drivers, and citizens into a single orchestra. After premiering it on Barcelona's Nova Icària beach during the Fiestas de la Mercè and repeating it at the Arc de Triomf during the Grec Festival, Salicrú will now bring its giants and fireworks to Plaça Major in Tàrrega and, for the first time, will make the show a traveling one.

Ireland is the star of this year's Fira Tàrrega, with four guest companies presenting their creations. One of them is choreographer and tap dancer Kristyn Fontanella, who has revived a long-gone Irish tradition. Each morning, the artist will dance accompanied by a chair in a performance that pays homage to ancestors and promotes community art.

Although most of Fira Tàrrega's programming takes place outside, there are also some very promising indoor shows. One of them is Weltschmerz (working title), by the Indi Gest company, with Ferran Dordal as writer, director, and performer. Based on a real-life game of petanque, the playwright questions how we deal with uncertainty and reflects on precariousness. He does so accompanied by the magnetic music of Clara Aguilar, one of the leading artists of the moment.

The company Banda Esférica has a proposal to fight climate change: dance together. Perhaps the action won't reverse the ecological crisis, they say, but it can help us question the world we live in through humor. This is Frog in the sky, water on earth!, a show that seeks to create bonds between strangers, rediscover the sky and nature, and, ultimately, celebrate life.

Tàrrega is also a territory for family audiences, who this year will find the new show by Campi qui Pugui, one of the most international Catalan companies. The group presents Camelva, a hilarious adventure starring eccentric fairgoers who will stage a typical camel race right in the street, but in their own right. Surprises, laughter, and games in a show designed for children and adults alike.

How do robots fit in with a 12th-century Persian poem? The answer lies with the Insectotrópicos company, which premieres in Tàrrega and will take viewers on a journey through the verses of the poet and mystic Farid al-Din Attar. The Conference of the Birds reflects on identity and spirituality in the digital age through projections, shadows, robotics, creative electronics, and real-time interactive software.

Last year, the French band Cirque Inextremiste wowed the audience at the Trapeze in Reus and left Catalonia with the Critics' Choice Award for Best Circus Show. Now the group returns to visit us with Damocles, a cooperative performance that plays with the risk that is present everywhere. To combat this, the acrobats invite the audience to cooperate and trust each other.

The Portuguese company Coração nariz Mãos describes its creations as "poetry in suspension." Its members are two acrobatic sisters who, through movement and balance, seek to highlight the beauty of everything around us. Rhizome You will find delicate and surprising images, designed to make viewers dream and, for the duration of the montage, make them forget their worries.

Catalan artist Sergi Estebanell has teamed up with Irish company Jazzville Productions to create this comedy about courage, belonging, and being different, unique, and original. The versatile performer Ksenia Parkhatskaya plays a sheep—the most dangerous animal in the world, which gives the play its title—who leaves her flock to explore the city in an adventure filled with absurd situations.

There's horse taming... and wood taming. With a handful of logs and planks, Nacho Flores builds a fragile but spectacular structure in this acrobatic duo that contrasts domination with collaboration. With live music by Céline Vitrolles and Roc Sala, Flores will create a series of mythological beings—such as minotaurs and Trojan horses—engaging the audience.