Alicia Soto-Leaf Litter

contemporary dance company

Alicia Soto-Hojarasca is a professional contemporary dance and creation company with a long history, created in 1994, under the artistic and choreographic direction of Alicia Soto. Based in Castilla y León (Spain), it has had great international projection since its inception throughout its almost three decades of existence. Portugal, France, Germany, China, Japan and various countries on the African continent (Morocco, Senegal...) have been regular stops on their tours.

Both with its shows and with its initiatives, talks and educational activities, the company has carried out an essential task of disseminating dance within and outside our borders and among people of different classes, ages or origins.

 

Research and constant evolution

In the DNA of the company, and of its director Alicia Soto, there is a constant search to take dance to different levels in each project. He has developed dance-theater pieces, shows for the street and non-conventional spaces, multimedia creations or made visual documents on his own work processes and those of other international companies with which he has worked.

It was one of the first Spanish companies to introduce technology into its projects and reflect on its relationship with movement and dance on stage.

 

More than 35 contemporary creations

His projects include titles such as Breu the dog and his friend Electrolux (1999), between arms (2002. Nominated for the Max Awards). Block C, Angeles Fallen seek to ascend to Heaven (2003. MAX Award Nominee), The Woman of No Memory (2005), want (2007. Max Award Nominee), In vino veritas (2008), skinSITEs” vers. XI and XIII (2008 and 2009. In collaboration with Post Theater [New York / Berlin / Tokyo]), Super Gravity - Zero Gravity (2009. Co-production with the Post Theater company [New York / Berlin / Tokyo]), La Petit Voiture-la Comtesse (2010), the triptych Cartography of the Body in an architectural space (2014-2016. Bewilderment, Studio 1: Night, Studio 2: Silence, winner of the North Station Award of the Tac Festival 2014, and Study 3: Looks), Regards (2017), The garden of the Hesperides (2020), Sublime Anger (2022), La Petit Voiture 2.0 (2022), On ropes (2024) and Human Landscapes (2024).

 

Collaborations with festivals and great figures

The company has always been a transdisciplinary meeting place for different artists with whom different synergies and collaborations have been established, both occasional and regular. These names include, among many others, the French writer Michel Houellebecq; the Moroccan director and actor Abdellah Chakiri; lighting designer Miguel Ángel Camacho; the conductor, composer and performer Joan Valent; choreographer Carmen Werner; or the Post Theater company (New York, Berlin, Tokyo).

On the other hand, Alicia Soto-Hojarasca has co-produced and collaborated at various times with national and international festivals, fairs and theaters such as Teatro Calderón (Valladolid, Spain); IDN Festival of the Mercat de les Flors (Barcelona, Spain); TAC International Street Theater Festival (Valladolid, Spain); Fitcarrer International Festival, (Vila-real, Spain); Lava, Valladolid Arts Laboratory (Spain); Taggeles (Berlin, Germany), Instituto Cervantes (Casablanca, Morocco); Ains Harrouda Cultural Center (Casablanca, Morocco); International Stage Dance Festival (Shanghai, China); or the Center Culturelle de Djarama (Dakar, Senegal).

Since 2014, the company has started a series of international artist residencies.

 

Pedagogical projects and artistic residences in rural areas

Since its inception, the company has held workshops for both professionals and different groups without dance experience. The movement and its contemporary bodily expression have centered these activities that have also addressed issues such as inclusion, equality or psychomotor development in youth and childhood. The workshops, workshops, courses and talks have been carried out both in different Spanish cities and in countries such as Portugal, Senegal or Morocco.

One of the lines of work that Alicia Soto has cared for the most, in which she has been a pioneer, is in the presence of the company and dance in rural environments, being a pioneer carrying out artistic residences in small towns such as Sazamón in Burgos (1994-1998). and Serrada in Valladolid (2005-2013). In addition, the residence in Serrada established this pillar of Alicia Soto's project to create a link between the rural environment and artistic creation with the production of 9 of the most emblematic shows of her career. It is also worth noting the implementation of projects for children in various areas of Castilla y León (Spain) or its latest initiative, A step forward, a program of activities for cultural revitalization in non-urban areas of Castilla y León brought contemporary dance closer to thousands of residents of the participating towns.

 

Throughout its history, the company has repeatedly had the support of entities and institutions such as AC/E, Aecid, different Spanish embassies around the world or the Cervantes Institute (different locations).

Press reviews

Source: The advance of Segovia. Manuel Sesma. November 18, 2002

….“The bet, the risk and the commitment of Hojarasca Danza with this show well deserve attention. His vision of dance as a disturbing element must be taken into account as a contribution of great creative and cultural interest”…

Source: Region 7. November 2004

…A good vertical dance show that makes this axis of Mediterranean tradition reappear, yes, served with a contemporary conception and with a desire to address all audiences, including young people.

Source: The North of Castilla. September 27, 2005. EFE Agency

…Triumph in Cairo with a great ovation from the public.

Source: Artez Magazine. January 2006 by Khaled Salem (Cairo). Cairo International Experimental Theater Festival.

“Wonderful La Mujer de la Sinmemoria by the Hojarasca Danza de Burgos company, which filled the halls during its two performances despite the language barrier….

Source: The Advance of Salamanca. June 26, 2005. First International Festival of the Arts of CyL Salamanca.

No one was left indifferent... it surprised, and a lot,... Hojarasca's proposal was quite separated from the traditional canons of dance... In La Mujer de la Sinmemoria she combined dance with image, sound and word..., through her shamelessly innovative and groundbreaking choreographies, its capacity for the communion of different artistic formats...

Source: Valladolid newspaper “Hatred and despair in the Mirror”. Carlos Toquero. 04-22-07

….” Leaf Storm is more courageous, and if it is more noticeable it is because it is difficult to manipulate a speech as clairvoyant as Houllebecq. In addition, Desire surpasses all stage works that have been carried out in this Community in recent times, and can rub shoulders with great European dance works......

Source: Le Figaro. November 2008. Paris

…The Alicia Soto-Hojarasca company left a fabulous taste in the mouth with the show “In Vino Veritas” to a large audience, resoundingly pleasant and with great palates.

Source: ABC of Seville. Julia Amezua. June 02, 2008

"Extraordinary Show" The opening scene of the farmer with the appearance of Bacchus, who connects to the four drippers, while the heart beats with force, is extraordinary... it is a cohesive show, with rhythm and communicates an enormous tide of sensations, an enjoyment for the senses.

Source: Fernando Herrero. Northern Castile. January 24, 2010 “2 or 3 questions”

“Attention Points” Alicia Soto and Hojarasca dance are always looking for new aesthetics, different experiences. It is also remarkable the contrast with the projected figures, which sometimes appear images from Bosch. Extraordinary the one that closes the show...

Source: Julio Castro – laRepúblicaCultural.es Published on Saturday, December 18, 2010

Alicia Soto seeks innovation, new challenges at different levels of art. A surprising, imaginative work, very parallel and balanced between the scene and the projection, but above all, between the concept of the structures of her image and the message she transmits at every moment and each format of your work. Yes, it really is different.

Source: By Isaac Macho, 2014 The Synod of Silence Tam-Tam Press / May 25, 2014

Crazy chronicle about the original show by Alicia Soto-Hojarasca in the cloister of the Colegio de San Gregorio National Museum, which combines the architecture of the place, banda music and contemporary dance... The protagonists offer the most brilliant moments of the act creating an intimate relationship between the body, the architectural space and the spectators…..”

Source: Cristina de Lucas, academic of the performing arts and critic of the London magazine Bachtrack. Published in the AAEE magazine number, March 2021 page 58-60.

The subtle narrative thread that sustains the work builds a story of liberation that alternates rage and serenity, challenge and despair, sensuality and anguish. Despite the powerful dramatic charge, the general tone is not emphatic, complaining or violent, but rather introspective and even hopeful at times. (...) The choreography created by Soto as a vehicle for such deep and suggestive reflection includes powerful images and symbols. Raised fists sometimes hint at a desire for revenge, sometimes suggest impotence, and sometimes visualize inner turmoil.

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