The Contra Centro Performance and Introductory Workshop
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New Artcast4D Pilot at Espai LaGranja​
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On Wednesday 4 June, Espai LaGranja will host Contra Centro, a new project combining dance, critical thinking and technology, developed as part of the European initiative Artcast4D. The event will feature a performance by choreographer Julia Zac and an introductory workshop on immersive technologies applied to movement.
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Organised by the Institut Valencià de Cultura and Espai LaGranja, with the collaboration of the consultancy CulturaLink, the event aims to explore new forms of stage expression that emerge from the intersection between the body and the digital environment. It is one of several pilot projects within the Artcast4D European consortium, which seeks to experiment with new cultural experiences in public spaces through technology.
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The Body as an Archive in the Data Age
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The performance Contra Centro, starting at 17:00, is a stage essay built around a central question: what happens to the body when it becomes an image, a trend, or data? In the words of Julia Zac, the piece’s creator and performer: “This essay begins with an insistence: to imagine myself at the centre of a space. Not to affirm myself, but to doubt; to expose myself as an image; to understand how, in this present moment, the dancing body becomes data, a trend, or an archive.”
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The work features a virtual environment developed by Elton Luis and Jaime Jiménez, with dramaturgical support from Norberto Llopis and writing support from Malena Albarracín. The artistic approach is deliberately critical and avoids the usual spectacularisation of technology on stage. It does not seek to impress with effects, but to rethink the presence of the body in a world saturated with images and algorithms.
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Practical Workshop: Body and Digital Environment
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At 18:00, following the performance, the audience will be invited to take part in an introductory workshop on the Artcast4D platform, which enables real-time interaction between bodily movement and the digital environment. The session, divided into a theoretical and a practical part, will offer participants a hands-on introduction to this open-source tool developed by the European project.
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The workshop will explain how the platform works and offer simple exercises so participants can interact directly with an immersive installation. The aim is to show, clearly and practically, how technology can be used as an expressive medium, without requiring prior technical knowledge.
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This training approach also connects with the work carried out under the IMMER-CV project, another European initiative involving both Espai LaGranja and Elton Luis, focused on developing skills for the use of immersive technologies in the cultural and creative sectors.
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Artcast4D: Interactive Culture in Public Spaces
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Artcast4D is a European consortium launched in 2022 to develop new forms of interaction between art, technology and the public. Coordinated by the Politecnico di Milano, and with partners in seven countries, the project brings together research centres, artistic collectives, technology developers and cultural actors.
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In València, the initiative is supported locally by CulturaLink, which is a project partner and key promoter of its development, in close collaboration with Espai LaGranja — now a local hub for this line of work. “This European project we are part of offers an opportunity to develop new languages that connect the body with emerging technologies,” said Guillermo Arazo, director of the creation centre. “It helps us to engage with these tools in ways that are both sensitive and creative.”
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The activities on 4 June are free and open to the public with prior registration. Participants are expected to include professionals from the sector, performing arts students, and members of the public interested in the relationship between body and technology.
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Registration for the performance (17:00) https://www.eventbrite.es/e/contra-centro-con-julia-zac-tickets-1372276218109 and the workshop (18:00) https://www.eventbrite.es/e/taller-el-cuerpo-y-el-entorno-digital-tickets-1372280470829​