“This work is dedicated to those that have the courage to move, to those who’s  bodies carry borders.” — Amanda Piña

Danza y Frontera (Dance and Borders) is the latest work in the series Endangered Human Movements and it is based on a dance that arises at the border between Mexico and the US. The dance from the neighbourhood of El Ejido Veinte of Matamoros, Tamaulipas (Mexico), is performed today in a context of extreme violence related to a border where narcotraffic, militarization, and cheap labour industries meet. The dance has its roots in an ancient pre-hispanic dance form that was later used by the Spanish Crown (Casa de Austria/Habsburg) to develop the conquest of Mexico as a “danza de conquista”, a conquest dance. It continued to transform itself till today and it can be understood as a form of resistance to colonial and later neoliberal forces. A contemporary pop-cultural appropriation in which indigenous practices, colonial narratives, Hip Hop culture and indigenous mysticism resonate.

Danza y Frontera explores this border choreography and brings its protagonists to Vienna in the context of the advancement of “Fortress Europe”. As border subjects, the performers inhabit a place in between, understanding its power and limitations, moving beyond all notions of borders be they cultural, national or aesthetic.

Research, performance 
Alma Quintana, Juan Carlos Palma, Alberto Montes, Paula Chaves Performance Rodrigo de la Torre, Matteo Marziano Graziano, Daphna Horenczyk, Dafne Moreno, Cristina Sandino, Antonio Raith, Dante Murillo Research, theory Nicole Haitzinger 

Movement studies Feldenkrais 
Joy Ackwonú 

Technical coordination 
Szymon Olszowski 

Music  
Christian Müller, Edgar Uriel Soria 

Lights 
Victor Duran 

Video in the performance
Amanda Piña, Susana Ojeda, Hubert Marz

Costume
La mata del veinte / Julia Trybula 

Video and photo documentation
Susana Ojeda, Hubert Marz – estudio elgozo

Head of production
Angela Vadori

PR
Simon Hajós 

Production assistance
Kira Koplin 

Voluteer
Hannah Lejet 

Production in Mexico
Alma Quitana, Amanda Piña, Juan Carlos Palma

A production
nadaproductions

Co-production
Tanzquartier Wien

With support from the Municipal Department of Cultural Affairs, Vienna, the Austrian Chancellory (BKA), ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival, Austrian Embassy in Mexico, Mexican Embassy in Austria, Escuela Nacional De Danza Folklorica de Mexico, Diplomado Como Encender un Fosforo – Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA), Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Museo Universitario del Chopo.

Distribution
Something Great