After we sung the praises on these pages of doyen of dance Merce Cunningham and the legacy of his nimbly intrepid steps last month, Barcelona’s contemporary dance torch passes this winter through the institutional doors of Mercat de les Flors.  Honoring the long-running and somersaulting union between dance and experimental art forms, Secció Irregular is a wayward symphony of original performance pieces, installation, conferences and workshops. The challenge to make sense of ourselves and our surroundings is attacked from all angles and as ever finds the perfect home in dance – which as an art is never stagnant, is always regenerating itself – and even the clichés are rarely devoid of emotion. Or as Merce Cunningham said, dance is “nothing but a single fleeting moment when you feel alive.”

“My body will lose energy” is how spiritedly subversive Bulgarian artist Ivo Dimchev commences Som Faves, a performance piece based around a list of his favorite things that fluctuates wildly from show to show, during which he lurches, hops and claps compellingly from deranged animal to amiable host. From Dimchev’s overarching theme of the worth of art, the series moves to the history of dance, with Trío C by Daniela Marini and Germán de la Riva, a video venture into the hallways of dance history featuring Marius Petipa, Jérome Bel and Merce Cunningham himself.

Conceptual Barcelona duo Vives & Bestué (Marc and David, respectively) contemplate the idea of the physical and mental “limit” and the tensions of our self-imposed moralities using the powers of their imaginations in a self-coined “work of fiction.” Meanwhile, the “fierce and engaging presence” (according to the New York Times) of Spaniard Aitana Cordero wades through the rubbish – literally – to a soundtrack of love songs by Nina Simone and The Kinks in performance piece Solo…? Secció Irregular goes out with a resonant bang, with We are QQ (Usue Arrieta and Vincent Vázquez) duo's film Canedo, a nuanced portrayal of the mechanics and rituals of family reunions which reaches a joyous crescendo of celebration.

December 14

Som Faves, Trío C and Vives & Bestué

January 25

Solo…? and Canedo

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