Algo se cruza en las palabras al escavar bajo los pies*

Olga de Soto’s new investigation begins with the Maternity of Elne, founded in 1939 by Elisabeth Eidenbenz, a young Swiss teacher and nurse who sheltered Spanish refugee women fleeing the Retirada. These women, along with hundreds of thousands of other Republican exiles, were interned in camps set up by the French government in the Pyrénées-Orientales. 

Reflecting on the forced migration caused by the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship, this project (in development) considers the impact that a single individual – Eidenbenz – can have on society. It also seeks to explore the oral transmission of family history across generations in displacement, observing how the mother tongue is passed down and acquired. In parallel, the project aims to trace the history of a dance for a dead child from the Valencian Community that was banned by the Spanish church in 1765 and practiced clandestinely until the early 20th century. 

* “something is tangled with the words when one digs lightly under our feet.” 

The event is part of Figures of Fascism and Antifascist Solidarity. Click here for the full programme.

• Olga de Soto is a Spanish choreographer, multidisciplinary artist and researcher based in Brussels. Since the early 2000s, her work – blending choreography with documentary, performance, visual arts, and installation – has focused on memory, trace, and transmission. It has been presented at festivals, theatres, and museums across Europe and Latin America. In 2013, de Soto received the Belgian Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD) Prize — Performing Arts, recognizing her research and creative work on Kurt Jooss’s The Green Table.