To celebrate International Dance Day, which took place yesterday, April 29th, this morning the mayor of Logroño, Conrado Escobar, participated in the planting of eight new trees in the Dance Forest, located in La Ribera Park. Also in attendance were the Director General of Natural Environment and Landscape of the Government of La Rioja, José Ignacio Sáenz de Urturi, and the Director of the Dance House, Perfecto Uriel, among other authorities.
During his speech, Escobar highlighted that «this day invites everyone to celebrate the universal language of dance and its power to unite cultures» and stated that «the Dance Forest is a living legacy that grows with each artist we pay tribute to. These trees symbolize the indelible mark of those who have dedicated their lives to enriching the art of movement.»
The mayor also thanked Perfecto Uriel for his tireless work in promoting this art and emphasized that «thanks to his commitment, dance continues to thrive in Logroño, open to new generations and all citizens.»
The event included the reading of the official message of International Dance Day by students from the Superior School of Dramatic Art and Dance of the Basque Country (Danzaerti). This year, the text was written by the renowned dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov.
The University Critical Theater Group (TECU) completed the event with a staging of a little-known poem by Federico García Lorca about dance and the moon.
A DANCE FOREST THAT CONTINUES TO GROW
The Dance Forest was created in 2009 and occupies 3,000 square meters in La Ribera Park, next to Paseo del Prior. It is a unique space where more than 130 trees coexist, each dedicated to a prominent figure in national and international dance. Every year, around April 29th, new trees are added to the forest.
Among the artists already honored are names like Anna Pavlova, Alicia Alonso, Nijinski, Antonio ‘El Bailarín’, Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Mariemma, Tamara Rojo, and José Carlos Martínez. This year, the eight new trees (of species such as Ginkgo Biloba, Holm Oak, Swedish Whitebeam, Araucaria, and Siberian Pine) have been donated by the Government of La Rioja and bear the names of Maria Taglioni, Isadora Duncan, George Balanchine, Valentina Kashuba, Joan Tena, Josep Aznar, Liam Scarlett, and Vladimir Shklyarov.
INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY
Every April, Dance celebrates its International Day worldwide to commemorate the birth of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), the creator of modern ballet, on April 29th. In 1982, at the initiative of the International Dance Committee, it was proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-UNESCO as International Dance Day.
