The video creation 'A BENE PLACITO', produced by the Autonomous Organism of Culture of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, has been selected to participate in the latest edition of the Athens Videodance Project – International Dance Film Festival. Screenings for this dance film festival will take place at the Astor Cinema in Athens on 21 and 22 December.
This selection further solidifies the international trajectory of the work, which has previously been featured in the Danza Canarias festival in 2025 and DanzaTTack 2026. In September, it was showcased at the Madre Museum and the Fondazione Morra in Benevento, Italy, as part of the Contemporary Art Festival Sotto Traccia.
'A BENE PLACITO' originated during the 2024–2025 season as an initiative to preserve the memory of the Teatro Guimerá and its foyer. The video creation presents voluptuous figures that, as eternal inhabitants of the space, appear tender and strange in everyday acts. They invite not only contemplation but also reflection on motherhood, care, and affection. The walls bear the traces of those who once inhabited the space, echoing fleeting encounters, rehearsed gestures, social impostures, and emotionally charged scenes.
Essentially, it is a stage without an audience where ghosts accompany, whispering stories that still resonate in the dim light of the lamps. The piece, performed by Emiliana Battista Marino and Daniel Abreu, navigates between the real and the imagined. A woman traverses the memory of the room until she merges with her recollections, reflecting on the passage of time, emotional bonds, and the will to choose how to continue.
Directed and choreographed by Daniel Abreu, with camera work and editing by Sergo Méndez, music by Francisco Sokolowicz, and costumes designed by Leo Martínez, 'A BENE PLACITO' is a significant artistic contribution.
The Teatro Guimerá
The Teatro Guimerá, the oldest theatre in the Canary Islands, underwent renovations in 1913, transforming one of the first-floor salons into a foyer, a waiting area for visitors to socialise and relax before and after events. The foyer features rich ornamental decoration: walls organised in symmetrical panels framed by golden mouldings, reliefs adorned with garlands and classical motifs, and mirrors that visually expand the space while enhancing its luminosity.
The coffered ceiling, intricately decorated and modulated, along with chandelier lighting, underscores the hierarchy and refinement of the space. The elegant and discreet arrangement of furniture reinforces the social function of the foyer as a meeting, waiting, and representation area. Overall, this space not only possesses aesthetic and architectural value but also historical and symbolic significance, reflecting social practices linked to cultural life, making it a meaningful element within the built heritage.
