Ten years of the ‘Off de Calle’ competition in Zaragoza

Fira Mediterrània is joined by a second Catalan partner, FiraTàrrega

Fira Mediterrània of Manresa is to be represented on the jury at the 10th Off de Calle Competition held during the famous Pilar Festival in the Aragon capital and organised by the City Council. Fundació Fira Mediterrània of Manresa is collaborating for the third year running with the “Zaragoza Cultural” Municipal Association in the tenth ‘Off de Calle’ competition. The event is aimed at individual artists and performing arts companies in the disciplines of dance, music, theatre, clowning, circus and so on, who use public spaces as their stage. As usual, the competition is being held during the Pilar Festival in Zaragoza in October 2013. Last year's ‘Off de Calle’ winners, La Rueda Teatro Social, with their show “Los Rodríguez: Una familia en crisis”, will be performing at the 16th Fira Mediterrània of Manresa, due to take place from 7 to 10 November 2013, as part of their prize. The winner of the 2013 competition will also have the chance to perform at Fira Mediterrània of Manresa 2014 as part of the collaboration agreement with Zaragoza City Council.

Registration for the ‘Off de Calle’ competition is open until 30 August, either by ordinary mail (by sending printed and audio-visual material about the show to: Societat Municipal “Zaragoza Cultural” S.A., Departmento de Programación ‘Off de Calle’, Torreón Fortea, C/ Torrenueva, 25, 50003 Zaragoza) or via the web site www.zaragoza.es. Out of all the applications received, a maximum of 12 companies will be selected to go through to the competition. The final list of 12 will be published on the website from 9 September.

Selected groups will perform on 8, 9 and 10 October 2013 during the Pilar Festival. “Zaragoza Cultural” will be publicising the ‘Off de Calle’ programme in the 2013 Official Festival Programme. The organisation will pay all selected groups who perform in the competition €500 to cover their expenses. As part of the Competition jury, Fira Mediterrània will be joined by a number of performing arts professionals who will award the Prize for Best Show. The prize consists of performing at Fira Mediterrània 2014, Fira Tàrrega 2014, Umore Azoka in Leioa (Basque Country) and at the 2013 Sant Mateu Festival in Logroño (La Rioja). The jury’s decision will be made public on 12 October.

2012 winners at the 16th Fira Mediterrània

The show you can watch in Manresa as part of the next Fira Mediterrània of Manresa will be performed by “La Rueda Teatro Social”, a group from Madrid that distances itself from conventional theatre to offer the purest form of street theatre, finding new ways of connecting with audiences and with society. Their aims are to discover and develop new theatre formulas which they can use to democratise the relationship between artist and spectator; create shows that emphasise both social values and artistic quality; think and perform a theatre that is useful and able to trigger change, and develop artistic processes for promoting people and groups at risk of exclusion. In the show Los Rodríguez: Una familia en crisis, the characters have just been evicted and are living in the street. “La Rueda” tackle this dramatically current topic with gusto, managing to give it a hilarious twist.