Atlantic surprise. A dance style which wets the air. Another fertile artistic reality which comes from Galicia, is absolutely innovative and whose roots are as deep as the ocean.
   We are proud to say this. Throughout the last years, we, Galician people have constantly surprised everybody because of our creativity. With the establishment of democracy in Spain, a new generation emerged. This generation has been the first one to have the opportunity to be educated in both the Galician and universal culture. The then children are offering now a full art, filled with the power of this "end-of-the-world land" and, at the same time, capable of touching every human being.
   The list is long. From the sound virtuosity of Mercedes Peón, Xosé Manuel Budiño or Carlos Núñez to the stage talent of Luis Tosar or María Pujalte. Book by book, Manolo Rivas and Suso de Toro are teaching us how to look at the planet with Atlantic eyes. And the Galician eclosion goes on and on. A beautiful sign of exchange and diversity.
   Music, cinema, theatre, literature. But what about dance?
   In Galicia, all grandmothers can set the steps of a local (enxebre) dance. An aesthetic heritage which had the folklore groups as its only medium of expression for long.
   "Alento" is the story of a great encounter: Vicente Colomer and Jaime P. Díaz, trained in classic ballet and traditional dance. Both of them felt the need to create choreographies as a means of expression of their contemporary reality. However, both could feel the same kind of vertigo: the absolute lack of reference.
   As we have already mentioned above, Galician dance usually seems associated with a nineteenth century setting: the "pazo" (ancestral country house), the stone cross, the ways of the emigrants to America… Vicente and Jaime wanted much more than that. They needed to use their bodies to draw the stories of the beginning millennium.
   And a new encounter takes place: Xosé Lois Romero, a composer who had been educated in traditional music and who, like Jaime and Vicente, needed to shout his modernity.
   It was the great synergy. Artists reaching the actual fulfilment by combining their efforts. Jaime, Vicente and Xosé Lois are the epicentre of a hurricane of musicians and dancers who are resolved to create a new language. It is as simple and wonderful as that.
   In "Alento", everything is amazing, original because they know their origins well.
   Prepare to find out the new voice of the old Atlantic. Dare to become imbued with so much light.

Xurxo Souto