Performed by numerous international dance companies since its world première in The Hague in 1999 by the Nederlands Dans Theater II, Minus 16 is based on excerpts from some of Ohad Naharin’s previous works, such as Mabul, Anaphaza and Zachacha. Accompanied by traditional Israeli and Cuban music, the black-clad dancers push the boundaries of improvisation and audience participation.

In this work, Ohad Naharin uses his famous Gaga technique to capture the dancers’ instinctive movements, adding or removing elements to reflect the individuality of each one. By inviting the audience to join the dancers on the stage, the choreographer demonstrates that dance is a universal language.

Biterna, on the other hand, is a choreography created by dancer and choreographer Aleix Martínez especially for the 33rd edition of Dansàneu, the Festival of the Cultures of the Pyrenees of the Valls d’Àneu. The performance, which took place in July 2024, was accompanied live by some forty members of the National Youth Choir of Catalonia, conducted by Mireia Barrera. The music was composed by the Pyrenean musician Arnau Obiols.

Biterna gives a voice to minorities who have suffered and continue to suffer discrimination. Remaining true to one of the festival’s recurring themes, Dansàneu wanted to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the oldest law against witchcraft in Europe, contained in an original document from the Valls d’Àneu, which was the first in Europe to condemn witches’ covens. Hence the title of the piece, Biterna, which refers to an imaginary place where, according to a medieval belief, witches gathered to worship the devil.

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