The jury of the prize, awarded by the Ministry of Culture, highlights the “innovation in clownish language” of the leading
Clown and actress Pepa Plana (Valls, Tarragona, 1965) won the National Circus Prize this Thursday for her contribution and “innovation of the clownish language”. The jury awarding the prize, awarded by the Ministry of Culture, recognizes that Plana is a “pioneer” in “putting women at the center of circus creation and in particular in the field of clowning.”
Pepa Plana is the soul and artistic director of the company that bears her name, a national and European reference in the genre. The winner is also the artistic director of the International Festival of Pallasses d’Andorra, a remarkable circus event.
Graduated from the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona in 1989, she took part in the creation of the Preterit Perfecte company, producing three shows. In 1998 he founded his own company with the aim of making clown theater for an adult audience. With this group he played 12 shows, including ‘De Pe a Pa’ (1998), ‘Giulietta’ (2000), ‘Hatzàrdia’ (2004), ‘L’atzar’ (2004) and ‘Penèlope’ (2010).
In 2011, he shared the stage for the first time with two other well-known clowns, Joan Montanyès, ‘Monti’, and Juan Valentín, ‘Nan’, to explain the harshness of the great migrations for political and economic reasons. Years later, he took over a new stage at the Cirque du Soleil, creating and touring the show ‘Amaluna’.
After this experience, he staged with his company ‘Despistats’ (2014), ‘Paraíso Pintado’ (2016) and ‘Suite’ (2017). In ‘Voces que no ves’ (2019) he incorporated a clown duo, which later became a trio in ‘Si tú te vas’ (2022).
His shows have toured Europe and Latin America and his work has been recognized with numerous awards, such as the 2014 National Culture Prize awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
The jury, chaired by the General Director of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM), Joan Francesc Marco, consisted of the circus historian and director of the Circada festival, Gonzalo Andino Lucas; the clown Jaume Mateu Bullich (‘Tortell Poltrona’), awarded the National Circus Prize in 2013; Nèlida Falcó Faydella, Director of the Performing Arts Department of the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises; the writer and journalist Ramón Pernas López; Elena Ros, member of the artistic committee of the Federation of Professional Circus Societies of CircoRed in Spain; Pilar Toboso Sánchez, on behalf of the University Institute of Women’s Studies (IUEM) of the Autonomous University of Madrid; and Manolo Alcántara, last year winner of the National Circus Prize.
Source: La Verdad
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