The Department of Culture has just appointed choreographer and cultural mediator Kirenia Martínez (Cuba, 1980) as the new artistic director of Escenas do Cambio, the theater, dance, and performance art festival held at the Cidade da Cultura, which will celebrate its tenth edition next year. With over 20 years of experience—19 of them residing in Galicia—and a long artistic career, Martínez, also a dancer and founder of Kirenia Danza, replaces Lola Correa, to whom the Department of Culture extends its gratitude for her significant work at the helm of Escenas do Cambio. Throughout her three editions as artistic director—succeeding Pablo Fidalgo, the festival's first director—Correa stood out for her support of the contemporary Galician scene, fostering creation with the premiere of pieces produced specifically for the festival and for her understanding of the architecture of the Gaiás, with beautiful itinerant proposals designed to take advantage of all the possibilities of the unique spaces of the Cidade da Cultura.
Dancer and choreographer
Kirenia Martínez is a dancer, choreographer, and cultural mediator born in Cuba who has an extensive career in several countries. Her creations have been presented in Cuba, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Brazil, and England. Currently, in addition to developing her companies in Galicia, she continues to collaborate on various choreographic, literary, and audiovisual research projects with prestigious entities. She holds the title of Higher Middle Level of Technical Professional Education, specializing in Acting, from the National School of Art of Cuba (2000) and the title of 1st Level of Contemporary Dance Dancer from the Ministry of Culture of Cuba (2001). She has been the director of the Kirenia Danza Company since 2019 and co-director of the Entremáns Company since 2005. The new artistic director of Escenas do Cambio also serves as co-director of the Quincegotas festival in A Coruña and directs the Danzar el Camino festival since 2021, in addition to coordinating the Cultural Mediation project of the Rosalía de Castro Theater (2023).