Antón Reixa and Kirenia M. Acosta blend verse and dance to explore desire.
- Pauloblue 1
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
The multifaceted artist makes his debut in the movement arts with the performance Cicatriz, based on his poetry collection.
When choreographer Kirenia Martínez Acosta proposed using the verses from Antón Reixa’s book Cicatriz, the writer, musician, and filmmaker never imagined it would mean adding a new discipline to his already diverse career: contemporary dance. The proposal wasn’t simply for Martínez to create a choreography inspired by his words—it was for Reixa himself to take an active role on stage, and not just to sit and recite. “She told me I had to be on stage. I thought it meant reading my poems, but it wasn’t that: I had to dance, and do it with a certain dignity,” Reixa shared yesterday.
The result of this fusion of poetry and contemporary dance—incorporating elements of theatre, performance, installation, and music—premieres this Friday at the Fundación SGAE in Santiago (8:30 p.m., Sala Coppini, €15), with a second performance on Saturday.
The piece delves deeply into inclusion and challenges ageism. Reixa described the project as “risky,” noting that he’s approaching his 68th birthday and lives with a 65% physical disability following a car accident in 2016. With this work, Kirenia M. Acosta also aims to show that dance is not exclusive to youth or technical virtuosity—it belongs to any body that feels. “It was about applying my rigor to working with a person with a physical disability,” explained the choreographer. In this way, the piece becomes the first inclusive dance co-production of the Centro Coreográfico Galego, in collaboration with Kirenia Danza and Artestudio.
Highlighting this aspect, the artist from Vigo stated, “We shouldn’t focus so much on limits: contemporary dance is above all about emotion, and anyone can carry that emotion.”
Cicatriz is a translation of three hundred verses—each beginning with the word Quiero ("I want")—into dance. “What they express is that desire is the engine of life, because when we no longer desire anything, we’re broken,” said Reixa. In designing the piece, Kirenia M. Acosta aimed to ensure that Cicatriz was not just Reixa’s, but also hers: “I wanted to create a new scar together, one that exists between dance and poetry.” They worked together for four months, during which the choreographer shaped the project’s direction, touching on universal themes such as the passage of time, risk, and emotional honesty.
The preparation of the piece became a learning experience for Reixa. “I learned that contemporary dance is very connected to theatre, which has helped me,” he admitted, adding that this may have been the first time he did nothing but rehearse for a project. But he also gained other insights: “Through dance, I learned a lot about my own literature and my body. This is therapeutic too—I feel much better than I did four months ago.” Kirenia M. Acosta noted that she hadn’t worked with someone “so fascinated by dance” in a long time, which became an additional source of inspiration.
In addition to Santiago, performances are already scheduled in Germany and Portugal, and the creators plan to present the piece in various locations across Galicia. Jacobo Sutil, director of Agadic, who joined Kirenia Martínez and Antón Reixa in the presentation, emphasized that Cicatriz supports key strategic goals for Galician productions, particularly inclusion and internationalization.