El Ardor (The Ardour) appears as the discourse of a shadow that advocates for the necessity of allowing outsider, teen, elder and queer communities, along with other marginal bodies, to become immortal, of turning them into street gangs that oppose fast consumption and experience lust as an immortal romantic state, one that can be used as a tool to undermine the affective-capitalist society. I dream of an ardour that arises from a challenged lust, which goes beyond pornography and is able to produce an almost holy state of eternal enthusiasm. I dream of taking the streets with passion. The piece is partly incendiary and partly poetic, being inspired by Hakim Bey’s postanarchist theories, William Burroughs’ wild and queer prose, Arthur Rimbaud and the Russian cosmists’ idea of immortality (we demand biopower to render the dispossessed immortal, since they are already vampires). We approach revolution from the stage as we approach changes in the contemporary society nowadays: as an impossible cinematic Romanticism (we actually embody Romanticism). At the end of the day, what looked like a discourse turned out to be an ode to the street and to my parents. And what looked like a monster turned out to be a queer.
This performance is part of the Sâlmon Festival and has been articulated in relation to the Santa Mònica arts center, intersecting with its current exhibition The tradition that crosses us.
I am Alberto Cortés. I trained as a director and dramaturg in Málaga, where I also studied Art History. I work on stage because I somehow hate the stage and that is a struggle I can find my place within. I started to work in the performing arts field in 2009 from a bastard position as a director and dramaturg and I evolved through the years and through a long rewilding process from the Andalusian periphery. I met many artists that have become part of my own artistic work and who have affected my way of approaching the stage to some extent (Gabriela Carrizo, Rodrigo García, David Fernández, Patricia Caballero, etc.), but my main inspiration are still my closest friends and local artists. My work led me to eventually step on the stage in flesh and bones. I still want to keep going on because I believe in that which cannot be named, in that which is human and intangible. I work on my own pieces, I share my questions through workshops and I collaborate with other artists. I unravel my identity today by being an artist, a director, a dramaturg, a mentor, a performer, a teacher, a son, an uncle, a lover and a friend.
Creation, dramaturgy and performance: Alberto Cortés
Text: Alberto Cortés (referencias y citas de Hakim Bey, William Burroughs, Arthur Rimbaud, Boris Groys, Friedrich Nietzsche and The Book of Job)
Lighting: Benito Jiménez
Music: Pablo Peña
Costumes: Gloria Trenado
Body assistance: Patricia Caballero
Video and photography: Manu Rosaleny y 99páginas
Thanks to: Rebeca Carrera, Rosa Romero, Bárbara Sánchez, Cris Celada, Miguel Marín, Isaac Torres, Cris Balboa, Marco Michelângelo and Dianelis Diéguez
With the support of: Graner, Junta de Andalucía, Graners de Creació, FITT and Universidad de Málaga.
