Spanish Federation of Dance Companies Network
Fascinated by seasonal migrations and the hard-working tenacity of the women of the Pyrenees, especially of the Ansó Valley, Violeta Borruel presents a contemporary dance work that transports us on a journey full of tenacity, courage and resistance, beauty , spirit of overcoming and freedom.
leave or take root?
“Golondrinas”combines anthropological research and dance, in a personal vision of the true story of some enterprising women who left home every winter. An imaginary world of birds and women, full of lights and shadows, effort and vitality.
During the second half of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th, multitudes of women from the Aragonese and Navarrese valleys (Spain) migrated every winter to the French towns of Mauleón and Oloron Saint Marie to work in the factories of espadrilles, for this reason, the French called them “Les Hirondelles”, The Swallows.
Other women, exclusively from Ansó (Huesca), traveled almost the entire the Spanish Peninsula selling “medicinal herbs”, collected in the Pyrenees, and “Swiss Tea”, which they smuggled in from France. These Ansó’s women always traveled on foot, in the company of only women and dressed in their typical costumes. His clothes caught the attention of the most famous writers and painters, coming to star in hundreds of articles and paintings.
“Las Golondrinas” are an extraordinary example of women entrepreneurs who supported the family economy without appearing in any official document, their history being a unique case in Spain, however today practically forgotten.
Credits and datasheet AvailableIdea, direction and choreography: Violeta Borruel.
Dancers: Violeta Borruel and Mireia Torres.
Visuals and lighting: Lorenzo Montull.
Music: various artists.
Photography: Javier Broto, Ana Escario – Peripheries Festival. Eduardo Lecina, Alfonso Sanjuán – Night Festival
Costume: Violeta Borruel.
Duration: 45 minutes.
Premiere: October 24, 2019. Periferias 20.0 Festival (Huesca).
