The TCUNAM will celebrate with a premiere and five contemporary proposals.

Fabiola Palapa Quijas

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, p. 5

The Choreographic Workshop of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (TCUNAM) joins the celebration of International Dance Day, commemorated every April 29 since 1982, with a program that includes the premiere of the work Nosarrastra, by choreographer Édgar Zendejas, inspired by the poem Patrolling Barnegat , by Walt Whitman.

The group, directed by Irina Marcano, will perform tomorrow at the Orientación Theater of the Centro Cultural del Bosque and on May 4 at the Miguel Covarrubias Hall of the University Cultural Center (CCU).

Zendejas, a choreographer with a distinguished career in Mexico, Canada, and the United States, expressed that his work explores the human struggle against nature and the internal forces that inhabit our being.

"Whitman's poem speaks of a savage trinity: the sea, the wind, and the darkness of night. These natural events can be beautiful or catastrophic.

In the work, the sea symbolizes the deepest emotions of human beings; the wind is a constant murmur of thoughts; and the darkness represents fear , the choreographer and founder of the Ezdanza company explains to La Jornada .

Through metaphors, Zendejas reflects in Nosarrastra on how external and internal adversity defines and transforms us. The work captures the constant struggle to move forward in the face of the impossible, revealing the capacity for resilience—hence the phrase , "After the storm comes peace ."

The choreography was composed by composer Hugo Morales Zendejas, accompanied by Sofía Escamilla Galindo (cello) and Adrián Robledo (bass clarinet). The musicians will perform live at the May 4th performance.

Regarding the experience of working with the TCUNAM, Édgar Zendejas commented that the dancers are talented and can work with different styles and artists. They adapted what he proposed without losing their personality; as a choreographer, seeing my work performed by other artists fulfills me .

In addition to premiering Nosarrastra, the TCUNAM program includes contemporary offerings such as Enigma and Vals capricho by Irina Marcano; the bolero Te fuiste a tiempo by Carla Segovia and Guillermo Aguilar; Huma by Melva Olivas; and Ionización by Gloria Contreras, a piece based on the eponymous score by French-American Edgard Varése.

The presentation on April 29 at the CCB's Orientación Theater (Paseo de la Reforma and Campo Marte s/n) will be at 6:40 p.m., and on May 4 at the CCU (Insurgentes Sur 3000, Ciudad Universitaria), at 12:30 p.m.