SYNOPSIS
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.
With ingenuity and imagination we will get some wings to fly with the body.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION
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.
ARTISTIC DATA
Idea, direction and choreography: Violeta Borruel.
Interpretation: Violeta Borruel y Mireia Torres.
Audiovisual and lighting designer: Lorenzo Montull.
Music: various artists.
Photography: José Ramón Bonjoch, Más Mastral, Javier Broto.
Costume Design: Violeta Borruel.
Duration: 45 minutos.
World premiere: October 24, 2019. Periferias 20.0 International Festival (Huesca, Spain).
With the support of: Cross-Border Artistic Residencies Project POCTEFA EFA 251/16 Patrim+ / Espacio Pirineos Center, Graus City Council.
R E V I E W S
Maikel Tapia Aragüés (May, 2021)
“The Contemporary Dance of Aragon can boast of the talent of the dancer and choreographer Violeta Borruel. Yesterday, at the “Station Theater” (Zaragoza, Spain), she presented a beautiful show with brutal expressive force. […] Borruel masterfully executed a project, ‘Swallows ‘, which is based on a true story of some women from the Pyrenees who, between the 19th and 20th centuries, migrated every winter to work in France. The sound choice is very successful due to the drama of the compositions […]. Also Lorenzo Montull deserves recognition for the preparation of projections in accordance with the physical and creative demands of a job that requires great discipline.The historical context and the choreographic innovation are the two main assets for Violeta’s message to reach more people, in a route that favors her flight to still unexplored places.”
Work based on “Swallows” adapted for unconventional spaces
Duration: 30 minutes
The Golondrinas Project was developed within a cross-border artistic residency Project POCTEFA EFA 251/16 Patrim+, at the Espacio Pirineos Center of the Graus City Council (Huesca).
