'Persuasión y Devoción', Eva Yerbabuena's show for Zurbarán's saints

From April 25th to 28th, the Espacio Santa Clara, historical residence of the Clarisa Sisters, is the venue for the show «Persuación y Devoción» which, conceived and choreographed by Eva Yerbabuena, is a prelude to the important exposition called «Santas de Zurbarán: Devoción y Persuasión».

The show organized by the Instituto de la Cultura y las Artes of the Seville town hall (ICAS) in collaboration with the BBVA, will be held May 3rd to July 20th in the same place, the Santa Clara convent.

Tickets go on sale April 3rd for 25 euros, and may be purchased at the Teatro Lope de Vega on the Avenida de María Luisa during box-office hours:  11:00am to 2:00pm, and 5:30pm to 8:30pm (closed on Mondays and holidays when no show is scheduled).  Internet purchase is available at www.generaltickets.com.  The day of the performance, tickets may be purchased directly at the Espacio Santa Clara beginning one hour before show-time, unless sold out.

Seville mayor, Juan Ignacio Zoído, who presented the show along with Eva Yerbabuena at the town hall, commented: «No better way to get this project about the Santas de Zurbarán underway, than to wear the clothing our most influential designers have created taking inspiration from the Zurbarán-style fabrics and Eva Yerbabuena and her dancers.  She is the person in charge of staging this wonderful idea that centers on the baroque and on Seville, as a melting pot and fountain of inspiration, just as those baroque dances were in the seventeenth century upon the celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi.  Seville as a fountain of inspiration.  Seville as pretext, but also motif.  This show aims to display the creative and persuasive force of a universal city.»

Eva Yerbabuena had the following to say:

“To dance Zurbarán is a challenge for me: it’s choreographing baroque music, designing and doing flamenco.  I don’t want to ever lose the foundation of flamenco because baroque music will make me grow on many levels.  We’ll be twelve women dancing, and it’s my job to make it possible for each one to transmit the essence of each saint.  There will be classical and contemporary dance, we are all going to become part of the religious icons, this is definitely a very culturally rich project.  The team working on the Santas de Zurbarán is totally committed to the undertaking: I’m talking about dance, music, design, painting…and every element is very important.  I am moved by Zurbarán’s way of depicting the pain and suffering of the women of the world, his capacity to innovate at many levels, from the choice of models to the design of their clothing, something which is very modern.  Zurbarán knew how to capture pain through beauty, and that is why the Saints convey many feelings at once.”

Santas de Zurbarán: Devoción y Persuasión offers the unique opportunity to admire the work of Francisco de Zurbarán by way of his virgin Saints. Many of them will be moved from their regular housing to the National Gallery of London, the Prado museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid, the Seville Museum of Bellas Artes, the museum of Bellas Artas in Bilbao, the Masaveu collection in Oviedo, the Museum di Strada Nuova, the Palazzo Bianco in Genoa and Málaga’s Carmen Thyssen Museum.

The exposition aims to reconcile the artistic sensitivity and functionality of this sixteenth century painter with today’s creations of Spain’s most prestigious designers who have been influenced by the artist who is considered Spain’s first clothes designer.

The list is long, and in this way, the work of Elio Berhanyer, Modesto Lomba, Ágata Ruiz de la Prada, Francis Montesinos, Roberto Torreta, Hannibal Laguna, Ana Locking, Ángel Schelesser, Victorio y Luchino, Pedro Moreno and Juan Duyos among others, all inspired in the master painter, can be admired the way we admire the work of Zurbarán.  This is the idea behind the show, a fluid dialogue between painting, dance, theater, music, art and fashion.

 

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