End of the school year and heat in the classrooms: what caught our attention the most this week
Plays, exhibitions, and literary recommendations are among this week's offerings.
BarcelonaThe new musical show La Tremenda, the SAT! program, the MOU festival in Figueres or the Grec are some of the proposals of the Creatures for this week.
We also offer a review of the week's news through Andrea Zayas' comic strip, the section To think about it and the data and statements that caught our attention the most.
Cultural and leisure activities
'ECHO'
Ona, 27, arrives at the hospital about to give birth. Completely terrified, she enters a room shared with two other pregnant women, Emilia and Carol. While waiting for news from the doctors, the three begin to connect: they talk about their desires, their fear of losing their identity in motherhood, and the complicated relationship with their bodies, sex, and pleasure. This is the starting point forECHO, the new musical show by La Tremenda Compañía that explores the pain passed down through generations of women. You can see it from June 27th to 29th at Dau al Sac.
On the SAT!
The Grec Festival arrives at SAT! this year with three very different offerings. In the first, creator Vivian Friedrich, inspired by her family heritage in the art of glassblowing, presents Sklenka Melt (July 3 and 4), a show that fuses circus, dance, acrobatics, fakirism, and object manipulation where gesture and craftsmanship intertwine in an absorbing dramaturgy. The second is Phoenix, the firebird (July 10 and 11), by the company La Maquiné, an initiatory journey in which Stravinsky's music takes shape in a show of puppets, masks and projections for all audiences. And, finally, the company La Petita Malumaluga recovers in Marceline The story of the world's greatest clown, Chaplin's mentor and Buster Keaton's inspiration. A show for all audiences, with live music and dance (July 18).
Dance in Figueres
And we're not leaving out the performing arts, because from July 3rd to 6th, the twelfth edition of the MOU festival, a benchmark event for dance and street movement, will be held in Figueres. This year's edition features ritual as the festival's central focus and will offer nearly twenty national and international dance performances, most of which will be free and designed to be enjoyed in various public spaces throughout the city. Only two performances will be paid, and they will be among the most notable: The unreachable suspension point, by Yoann Bourgeois Art Company, and Mercedes plus eu, by Janet Novás and Mercedes Peón.
Performing arts for families
If we're talking about summer, we must mention the Grec Festival, which this year takes place from June 26th to August 4th in Barcelona. It offers a varied program for the whole family to enjoy. There will be shows at the SAT!, the Mercat de les Flors, and the CCCB. Don't miss the opening show. The Little Circus (June 26-28). The Mercat de les Flors hosts contemporary circus for all audiences, with shows such as Play dead, Candy, Mommy and DyeYou'll also find free concerts and street performances, as well as workshops and immersive activities related to dance, music, and stagecraft at the CCCB, the Miró Foundation, and the Music Museum. The family program includes theater and visual storytelling, open-air concerts, and musical performances. You'll find the full program at https://www.barcelona.cat/grec/ca/programa/espectáculos
Photographic exhibition
Five years ago, Revolta Escolar was born, a movement that emerged from the self-organization of families to demand safer, healthier, and pollution-free school environments. The exhibition School Revolt: The Path to a Safe and Dreamy Environment for ChildrenJoanna Chichelnitzky, from Fotomovimiento, has documented, with the collaboration of the Revolta families, this struggle for a greener and more livable future. Among other actions, Revolta Escolar has organized traffic cuts and bicycle buses to make their voices heard. The movement has grown and achieved changes in urban infrastructure, such as converting streets into pedestrian zones and reducing traffic at several schools. The exhibition can be visited until June 28 at the Pati Llimona Civic Center in Barcelona.
Barcelona
The Barcelona Aquarium is embarking on a new era coinciding with its 30th anniversary. The marine center in the Catalan capital has undergone a renovation to improve its facilities, with the addition of new species and the updating and expansion of the aquariums, which currently house more than 11,000 organisms from 600 different species. Among the new Aquarium's main new features is a unique immersive room in Europe that offers a surprising and interactive expedition. It is also notable for its commitment to improving its educational and interactive spaces with Aqua Protectors, an activity where children can paint their fish, name it, and release it into a digital ocean, and also with an augmented reality game that will allow visitors to play at cleaning the seabed of debris.
Book recommendations from Marta Gil, bookseller at El Gat Pelut.
By Jonna Björnstjerna (Youth)
Lillebror has heard that a mysterious ghost train is running through the enchanted forest. Unable to sit idly by, he decides to investigate... until he ends up trapped on the train! A curse hangs over this train: once you get on, you can't get off. This is the second installment in a collection of picture books that brings mystery and humor to younger audiences.
Ideal for readers aged 6 and up who are eager for intrigue, adventure, and a touch of fear.
By Enric Casasses (Cep and Asa)
Casasses's freest and most playful poetry is accessible to the youngest readers. With short verses that play with words, sounds, and images, this collection is an open door to the musicality of Catalan and the pleasure of speaking and listening.
For ages 5+.
To think about it
And now what?
The school year has already ended, and the last few days have been long for teachers, children, and families. The tight schedule of end-of-year events, registration for upcoming events, and the heat have compounded the fatigue inherent in this time of year. And, like every year, when the last day of school arrives, families must juggle the two-month school holidays. Our salaries go to paying for summer camps or babysitters, and those of us lucky enough to have elderly parents welcome their help with open arms. In any case, solutions are always individual, and the system doesn't offer collective ones because summer camps aren't: their high prices are unaffordable for many families.