Vanessa Costa

How it all started

The idea of creating a podcast for BIDE arose just before the Covid pandemic in Spain. During lockdown, which began in March 2020, the idea of producing a podcast on contemporary dance and performing arts evolved. We did research on dance podcasts around the world and in Spain and we realised that there was no podcast on the subject in Catalonia. Boom! It was the push we needed to launch a podcast.

So it was at a time when we moved through the streets with restrictions, always wearing a mask, that BIDE launched the first contemporary dance podcast in Catalonia, stimulating more human contact with dance professionals through voice. The idea was to talk about dance in the present scenario the new normality and the practice of BIDE presented to us due to the pandemic, by interviewing participants and partners from around the globe.

With a presence in more than 40 countries, 30 partners and more than 1,200 participants in its events over the past 15 years, we had a list of exceptional professionals with whom to talk to, reflect and share ideas. We defined the audience, began to select the people who would be interviewed, created a script for the interviews, the music, the communication design and, in August 2020, we launched the first episode: an interview with Laura Kumin, director of the Certamen Coreográfico from Madrid. The second episode was with Ulla Mäkinen, BIDE co-founder and the director of Movement and Performance Research, in Finland.

More than 40 hours of knowledge and inspiration

From August 2020 to December 2022 we conducted 41 memorable interviews. With episodes in English and Spanish, depending on the guest artist, our team has participated in stimulating discussions with artists, choreographers, dancers and cultural managers from different cities and countries.

In 2 years we have interviewed professionals from 22 cities in different parts of the world: Barcelona, Valencia, Pamplona, Deltebre and Cantabria (Spain), Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta and Mérida (Mexico), Outokumpu (Finland), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Lille (France), Lima (Peru), Santiago (Chile), Florence (Italy), Curitiba and Salvador (Brazil), Nicosia (Cyprus), Jerusalem (Israel), Stockholm and Gothenburg (Sweden), London (UK) and New York (USA).

The interviews followed a script that began with the interviewee's trajectory, their national and international projects, reflections on dance in times of Covid-19, and the interviewee's plans for the future. The response to this last question almost always remained as an ellipsis... How could we talk about the future of dance if we didn't know what was going to happen in the present? The pandemic was a difficult time for everybody, some more than others.

 The first 18 interviewees

Some memorable quotes

In total we have more than 40 hours recorded with choreographers, dancers, cultural managers, performers, researchers, educators, curators, actors, actresses, writers, artistic directors, musicians, and performing arts producers. Many stories, reflections, thoughts and, above all, a great deal of knowledge, and inspiration due to their remarkable careers. Here we have selected some moments from these talks.

About dance:

"People who know how to articulate the body on stage also know how to articulate it into words."

 Laura Kumin, director of the Certamen Coreográfico of Madrid and President of Paso a 2

“Bring contemporary dance not only to the intellectual, but also to the fun and crazy.”

 Roberto Olivan, director and the founder of Deltebre Dansa Festival

“There are two things that captivate me: dance and the human being”.

 Beatriu Daniel i Ferrer, co-director of Explica Dansa’s project in Barcelona

“Remember that dance is also fun. You can be here, take your space and be proud of what you do”.

 Clementine Vanlerberghe, participates in Nouveaux Ballets du Nord-Pas de Calais

About creative and collaborative processes:

“BIDE is a big pot with a lot of people to create a really crazy soup.”

 Ulla Mäkinen, BIDE co-founder and director of Movement and Performance Research, North Karelia College Outokumpu, Finland

“This mix between letting go, permissiveness, listening, but without interfering in something, is very unusual, I consider it very valuable.”

 Oscar Dasi, artistic director of La Caldera Barcelona

“In collaborations with theater and dance, I had an artistic crush.”

 Angel Faraldo, artistic director of Phonos Foundation

"In 'Baile Usted' there is no difference between an artist and a citizen: an entire city dances."

 Eleno Guzman, director of MOVES Movimiento Escénico, México

"Feminism embraces all forms and spaces of claim."

 Alexandra Laudo, independent curator and founder of Heroinas de la Cultura platform

The next 18 interviewees

About the future:

“Facing the unknown is a global crisis.”

 Elena Carmona, artistic coordinator of Graner, Creation Centre Dance and Live Art, Barcelona

“Living in a world without violence: for me it is the most important motto.”

 Ladys Gonzalez, dance activist, professor of Body Expression and director of Corporalidad Expandida, Buenos Aires

"I think the basic need now is: I want to exist, I don't want to disappear."

 Cesar Compte, manager of the Associació de Professionals de la Dansa de Catalunya

“Apart from all the negative, we have to look at the positive that this health crisis has brought. We have learned to learn.”

 Tony Gonzalez, cultural consultant for the artistic mobility and culture internationalisation

These are some of the many memorable quotes from our 41 episodes. If you haven't caught any of the shows, we invite you to listen on our Spotify or YouTube channel.

The creation, launch,production and communication of B>Podcast this first two years was carried out by the BIDE team: Sebastián García Ferro (Interviewers selection, most of the interviews, music and editing), Vanessa Costa (research, script, communication design and community manager); Ireri Mugica (interview in Puerto Vallarta) and Zoë Leigh Gadd (interviews in London and New York City).

The last 5 interviewees in 2022

The B>Podcast from 2023

In March 2023 we started the new season of the B> Podcast. We have already selected the interviewees, we are confident you’ll be impressed! We have also updated the script, which now has a more dynamic structure focused on the current situation of the interviewees. We leave behind the issue of covid and our uncertain future.

We would like to say thank you so very much to all the professionals whom we have had the pleasure to have on our show. To our lovely audience and to our great team, who are always at the forefront of new changes in the world of communication and entertainment that just like dance, continues to evolve and excite us!

Vanessa Costa is a consultant in creative and content strategy, copywriting and trend curation.