Noelia Francisco and Elena Rato

The artistic group ratopaco has been developing since 2001, when it produced its first joint work. A trajectory with numerous incursions in the national scene, highlighting La Casa Encendida, the DA2 Domus Artium 2002 in Salamanca, Universities (Barcelona, Valencia, Salamanca), and other public spaces.

From the beginning, it was clear that the objective to pursue was to create a multidisciplinary type of work, in which the spatial element played a priority role, thus opening the way to situations that are not easily pigeonholed into a specific genre.

The training of the members of the group in the world of Plastic Arts, in parallel to their stage training – both in the field of classical and contemporary dance as well as in theatre – meant that the artistic process was covered from beginning to end in its entirety.

Our proposals seek:

An encounter between the theatrical, the visual and the “performative”, the intersection between the danced and the interpreted. A shift between dance, theatre and different plastic representations such as action, performance or happening.
Understanding and acting in situations in which the spatial and temporal factors are thought out in advance.
The search for an iconography that is clearly recognisable as one’s own, not fleeing from a desire for a style that could be called “Ratopaquian”.
To promote naturalness in the face of the new, helping on the arduous path of detachment from prejudices when facing a contemporary artistic activity.
To bring to the general public artistic manifestations intended for their enjoyment, no less attractive for being attractive than they are loaded with cultured contents.
To extend the field of action of theatre to other spaces not traditionally attributed to stage performance (galleries, exhibition halls, the street… or any space poetically taken up again).