PARTICIPANTS
PARTICIPANTS
CORAL
Hello good morning,
I’m Coral, from the senior citizens’ group. I have only been with this fantastic programme of young and old people for five years. I am 82 years old and I am the oldest of us all. Due to illness I have been absent many times, but when I have been able to, I have really enjoyed the experience. I like the young people, their commitment, the harmony that is established with the older people, the originality of the shows and the result which has always been so enriching. In short: a group of teachers, older people and young people, with total empathy.
I am very happy to participate in this project.
Since 1993 I have been a volunteer at Fundació Arrels, a centre that has been running since 1987. My husband was one of its first volunteers. They take in street people and offer them shelter. At the beginning it was a very small place in Barcelona, but now it has grown a lot, has many workers and volunteers and works very well. I am still in contact with them and I am delighted to be able to collaborate. Together with the actress and director Ivana Miño, I started doing theatre in her group more than seven years ago. I enjoyed it very much, although now we only have contact via WhatsApp, as well as from time to time a small meeting. I think I want to continue these activities, because they make me happy.
Thanks to all of you.
LALA
Hello, my name is Adelaida, but my friends also know me as (Lala). I joined the PI(È)CE intergenerational project years ago, and I am very happy, because I have always felt very well received by all the members of the company, both by the young people and by the other older people like me and by those who direct us, Constanza, Albert and Julio. They are all great professionals. The young people are fantastic and we older people learn a lot from them and I think they also learn things from us older people. That’s why I have made a resolution that as long as I keep a clear head and my legs don’t fail me, if they want me to, I will continue working with all of them. Best regards and see you soon.
MORY TRAORE
My name is Mory Traore, I’m from Guinea Conakry and I’m 23 years old. 4 years ago I fell in love with this city, Barcelona, its culture, its landscape, food like paella, fideuà etc.! I love the weather here, the sun, the beach, the mountains and the many historical sites. The people are very nice. I love art in general, and in the future I want to be an actor. I also enjoy football very much and my favourite team is Futbol Club Barcelona.
ANJILA
My name is Anjila. I am from Nepal and I am a high school student. I have been working with Tantarantana Theatre for four years. I have grown a lot since our first performance. These last four years are the best of my life. I love dancing, reading and listening to music. I love getting out of my comfort zone. It makes me see what I am capable of and builds my confidence. It has been an amazing experience and I am so grateful to have been able to work with our group. I love you all for being so supportive, loving and caring. There was a time when I felt lonely and being in the theatre with all these amazing people made me feel at home. When I am in the theatre I feel alive, lost and found at the same time, and that feeling is indescribable.
MEHAK
I am Mehak and I am from India. I am studying in high school. I love sleeping and unfortunately I am addicted to mobile phones. I like dancing, singing, eating and talking. One thing everyone should know about me is that I cannot be silent. I have been working with this group for four years. For me theatre is an art in itself, I have no words to explain it. This group is wonderful and each person has a part of my heart. I will always be grateful to them for selecting me. So far my experience has been amazing and will continue. Everyone is very supportive and the atmosphere is amazing. At first I wasn’t very interested in doing theatre because I didn’t know what it meant, but now I love doing theatre: it’s like a drug.
JULIETTA
I’m Julietta, I’m a driving teacher, now retired. I’ve always loved theatre and I love being in the group.
JOSEFINA BES
My name is Fina, I am a widow, I am 84 years old. When Julietta told me that I was part of a theatre group, my whole body went into overdrive, excited and hopeful. I can’t wait to get on stage, and even if my legs are shaking, I want to play whatever I’m asked to play. As embarrassing as I am, there is a great force that pushes me to get up in front of everyone and bring them joy, because with all that is going on, there is a great need to LAUGH.
AVEL·LINA
My name is Avel·lina and it has been 7 years since my friend Adelaida invited me to a rehearsal. Being part of this theatre company has been for me as if a window opened and a ray of sunshine and a warm breeze flooded my life. When I am with my colleagues rehearsing, I am one of the team and at times I forget my visual impairment, the pain in my back and my 79 years. With them, I fly again.
PAQUITA
My name is Francisca Menárguez Martínez, Paquita to my friends. I have been in the group for 10 years. I am very happy to be part of it, because I have been able to meet wonderful young people over the years. I have also met the director Constanza Brnićič and the playwright Albert Tola, who are very great. You may wonder how I got here. It was Julio Álvarez who told me if I would like to participate. For me it was a great adventure, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me: we are a family inside and outside the theatre.
BERTA PEÑA
I’m Berta Peña Tomàs. I’m 20 years old and I’m from Barcelona. I am currently studying drama at the Eolia school. Since I was very young I have been trained in classical and contemporary dance and dancing is one of my passions. Besides, I’ve been doing theatre for about 5 years now. I started to discover this world better and to let myself be fascinated by it. I have participated in different projects such as “Asaltamos el escenario” with the play “Fedra, enamorada de la moda juvenil”, “Oi Néoi (Los nuevos)” or “Scrapbook 2021”.
Art is one of the things that captivates me the most. Besides acting and dancing, I love drawing, painting and writing. I enjoy expressing myself in this way, as sometimes it is the only way that helps me to heal and understand myself. I also like walking by the sea, observing nature and being inspired by all that it has to offer.
FINA
It’s been 7 years since my partner died, I felt sad. We had been together for 25 years. One day at the doctor’s visit, Laura, the nurse, asked me if I would like to do theatre at the Tantarantana. I said yes, because it was something I had always wanted to do, but my father wouldn’t let me. And now, at 79 years old, I realise that throughout my life I have had many experiences that have been pure theatre. Now I’ve been in this project for 7 years, I’ve felt very welcome, I’ve also felt close to the actress I dreamed of being, giving myself body and soul. Sharing this project with high school students is an enriching moment, where people from different cultures come together. Thanks to all the people behind this project.
JOAN
My name is Joan, I’m 20 years old, although if it takes me a bit longer to write this text I might have already turned 21. Probably the fact that has defined me the most throughout my life has been being born in summer, all the rest of my personality is pure coincidence.
I came to PI(È)CE a bit by chance, so much so that I didn’t even know what the project was called… now it’s been a few years (8 years to be precise). I decided to stay because each creative process is more liberating than the previous one, and because it creates synergies and a very cool atmosphere of trust and respect.
MARTA
I’m Marta Fernández Tusón, I’m 25 years old and I’m a Valencian political scientist, dancer and choreographer living in Barcelona. I studied Political Science in Valencia and I came to Barcelona to study a master’s degree in Sociological Research and a higher degree in Choreography and Performance at the Institut del Teatre. I finished the master’s degree this year with a research on the right to housing in Barcelona, combining this with other interests such as the use of historical approaches to address social conflicts. Right now I’m in my 3rd year of Choreography and I’m mainly focused on creation, on learning all the possible tools in this sense, on being able to develop my own projects and also on finding my own language with them. Although now I mainly dedicate myself to dance, my theoretical and social interests are always present and in one way or another they always appear and are always related to each other. I am also passionate about cinema! And it is one of my great hobbies and references both in everyday life and in stage creation. If I find the time, I would also love to study a scriptwriting course or something similar to be able to combine both types of creation even more. Besides all this, I also love reading, travelling, videogames and I’m quite a geek of Japanese culture in almost all its fields, as well as science fiction and fantasy, either in cinema or literature. In other words, I’m a geek in general! Since not so long ago I’m also part of the company Pi(È)CE, a wonderful, safe, fun, working and learning place that welcomed me very easily, and that has become a little family that I’m very proud to be a part of. Everything we do is a super journey with a lot of enthusiasm. They are all great artists here, with a lot of talent, energy and different personalities and I admire them all very much.
ASHRAF
Hi, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Ashraf, I’m 16 years old, and I’m from Morocco. I am a kind and funny person. In the times I was with them I felt good, happy. There were funny moments, tense moments, but I still liked it.
JÚLIA
I am Júlia Feixas, performer of PI(È)CE. I landed in this company through Tantarantana theatre and it was a real discovery: the people, the code, the work, the plot, the movement… everything makes up a careful work that is born from vulnerability, from our stories, from listening and above all from respect. We presented the show OI NÉOI (The New Ones) at the CCCB in 2019 and it was quite a journey. The rehearsals are full of laboratory, tests and learning. The path of rehearsals then becomes experience, the value of taking care of ourselves and making the process of creation the crux of the matter. And finally, the show, the compilation of all that we have been sowing all this time, and as it could not be less, explodes in a theatrical performance piece with audiovisual components, live music, movement, text? This line is created with the company, you never stop exploring.
JAN
My name is Jan. I am 19 years old -and I joined the PI(È)CE family in 2019. I joined the project because fortunately a few weeks earlier I had premiered the play “FEDRA (in love with Youth Fashion)” at the same Tantarantana Theatre. The FEDRA play was part of a framework of pedagogical projects made up of young students of the performing arts. PI(È)CE offered us the possibility of participating in the company’s next show to act within the group as action and support points with previous experience in the scenic code. And so we took the plunge without really understanding what it was all about and only now can I say, with hindsight, that it was a wonderful decision to accept the offer, so congratulations Jan from the past! PI(È)CE is so many things that it is hard to find words that really do it justice. Now, the first image that comes to mind is that of family. But a family that crosses all borders and emits a warmth and brotherhood through what undeniably unites us all: humanity. The PI(È)CE experience for me was dazzling. It opened my eyes to another way of understanding, observing, interacting and treading in our world. And in the end, I have not contributed as much to PI(È)CE as PI(È)CE has contributed to me. In fact, I am who I am partly thanks to this magnificent odyssey, my conception of art and the figures that create it has been completely transformed. And now I am proud to be able to say that I am part of this family. I think of everything we have shared, what we have gestated, the creative processes, the rehearsals, the video calls during the pandemic, the meetings after months, the people who have left and the new ones who have arrived (as I was at the time), the growth, the reflections, the movement… and it gives me goose bumps. I consider myself extremely privileged to be able to live this experience and I remember that every time I am in a hall or theatre with all these souls I feel more steeped in life than ever. And now, writing this, I am filled with a colossal desire to meet again with all of them and once again feel this magic, purity, determination and collectively create a new piece that will always bear the powerful and portentous stamp of PI(È)CE. PI(È)CE is a role model in many respects and in many ways. But I don’t want to tell the whys and wherefores, everyone should find their own conclusions.
GERONIMO
My name is Geronimo Pereira and I have been involved in the PI(È)CE project for 8 years. We develop a collective creation piece, which brings together teenagers, young people and older people, in which we achieve with the work and effort of all, a work that makes us all integrate as well as projecting to the public a hopeful reality that I believe is represented with great emotion and truth.
KAKE
My name is Aboubacar Sidiki Kake, I am from Guinea (Conakry) and I am 23 years old. I arrived in Spain in the summer of 2017 through Ceuta, from there I went to Cadiz and then I came to Barcelona. Since then I have been living here. I like football, I love music and I put theatre last because I have a history with it. In 2019 I signed up for a theatre course because at that time I wasn’t working and I needed something to occupy my day to day life. That’s how I got into the world of theatre, and then I got hooked, when PI(È)CE contacted me I responded delighted because I knew it was a space I would like, where I would feel at ease and I did. It was a welcoming, safe space where I could express myself and, although there was an age difference, the treatment was the same.