The Spanish actress, writer, and director Saida Santana debuts her 30-minute multimedia dramatic piece, dentro, an engrossing blend of live performance and audiovisual components, the latter in collaboration with Vicente Sanz de León. The artist interprets different characters based on poems and a short story by the Spanish poet Leopoldo María Panero, as well as on her own texts.
dentro attempts to look inside, into what is hidden beyond the form, the labyrinth that inhabits us all and which is not always easy to decipher. Santana enters an inner realm, which could be the inner realm of anyone or of no one at all. She delves into the depths of a wellspring that could spawn words, verses, plays, or perhaps just a vacuum. dentro is a journey full of hollow, unanswered questions. It is an inner passage where the artist seeks and seeks, although aware that she might find nothing. With this concept in mind, Saida Santana creates a drama that interweaves the theatrical and the audiovisual, moving freely through space.
This work was conceived in 2015 in Miami’s Centro Cultural Español, as a coda for the exhibit Nuevo arte outsider de Cuba by the Fundación Naemí. Two weeks after being conceived, Panero passed away. Thus, the performance is Santana’s very personal tribute to the poet. The mise en scène will be in Spanish. As a complementary piece at the end of the performance, there will be a screening of Yolanda Mazkiaran’s subtitled documentary, Locos, with a testimonial on madness by Panero.
LA NACIONAL
SPANISH BENEVOLENT SOCIETY
239 West 14th Street, NYC
CCCNY Members: Free Admission
Must RSVP at: cccofny@aol.com
Saida Santana Mahmut is an award-winning performer whose career spans the theater, cinema, and television. In recent years her work has revolved around the search for identity through various creative endeavors. For her, acting, screenwriting, directing, coaching, and teaching are sides of a common polyhedron. Ms. Santana Mahmut has a Masters in Coaching from Universidad Camilo José Cela, with a major in Psychodrama, and a Ph.D. from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, where she also received a Master’s degree in Dramatic Arts.
This event is co-sponsored by Canarias Crea (Gobierno de Canarias), La Nacional,
CECA (Hunter College) and Hacer para creer
This event is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
