Bogotá’s Compañía del Cuerpo de Indias dance project at TEDxObserver

TEDxObserver in London present a special dance project from one of Colombia's most exciting companies
  
  

Compañía del Cuerpo de Indias
Colombia's Compañía del Cuerpo de Indias will perform at Sadler's Wells as part of TEDxObserver. Photograph: PR

One of the groups appearing at TEDxObserver at Sadler's Wells on 10 March have added extra dates to their schedule. The Colombian Compañía del Cuerpo de Indias will perform three dates at the Lilian Baylis Studio in Sadler's Wells from 8 to 10 March. Compania del Cuerpo de Indias (a professional company drawn from Cartagena's El Colegio del Cuerpo) will perform INXILE (The Trail of Tears).

The original piece was premiered in Bogotá in December 2010 to help commemorate the bicentenary of Colombian independence. INXILE is a homage to the victims of forced displacement in Colombia and to the country's cultural and linguistic diversity.

The first performance featured 300 people on stage – members of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá, 25 actors, 25 dancers of El Colegio del Cuerpo and 150 victims of displacement from all regions of the country.

El Colegio del Cuerpo was established 15 years ago and draws many of its students from Cartagena's most impoverished districts. Many come from a shantytown called Nelson Mandela, home to many families displaced by years of violence that pulverised Colombia in the 1980s and 90s, and which still exists today. Though Cartagena is increasingly seen as a tourist jewel in Colombia, the reality of life for much of its African-Colombian residents is one of poverty and few opportunities. El Colegio del Cuerpo is an organisation that gives some people a possible way out of the barrio. Over the last 10 years many of the students have graduated to become professional dancers and the company have toured in Asia, Europe, the United States and South Africa.

 

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