El Colegio del Cuerpo
Main Prize - 2009
Palabrademar
Artform: Dance
El Colegio del Cuerpo uses contemporary dance to convey artistic, social and human values to the inhabitants living in the most deprived areas of Cartagene de Indias, Colombia. Palabrademar is a homage to the poet Aim Csaire, one of the founders of the negritude movement, which believed that the shared black heritage of the African Diaspora was the best tool in fighting colonial racism. "Negritude," he wrote, "is a shout of rebellion against any form of racism and oppression, a painful and passionate jump towards universality, a miraculous weapon." The concept of the dance, created by lvaro Restrepo, hopes to produce a catharsis, demolishing social, historical, cultural and human frontiers in a city built by African slaves nearly 500 years ago.