The Soho Theater will turn the center of Malaga into a ballet bar and will award Julio Bocca.

"Theater. Music. Dance. Málaga." These are the four words that, like a motto tattooed on the skin, adorn the facade of the Teatro del Soho Caixabank. Dance was perhaps the least highlighted of the four. Until now. The stage space of Antonio Banderas balances the scales in a city where musical theater and dramatic programming have gained weight in recent years. Contrary to this trend, the Soho places dance at the center of its proposal for this year.

This will be done through a dance festival directed by the prestigious dancer Lucía Lacarra, an international figure who has developed her career in some of the most prominent companies in the world, from San Francisco to Munich. The event, a result of Antonio Banderas's personal effort, is born with a vision for continuity and includes an annual award that, in this first edition, will honor another dance legend: Julio Bocca.

Principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre for two decades, and recognized for his virtuoso technique and magnetic stage presence, Bocca is one of the most influential names of recent generations. He has shared the stage with dancers like Alessandra Ferri, Carla Fracci, and Tamara Rojo, and has been a guest artist with companies such as the Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi, and La Scala.

Bocca, recognized for his virtuoso technique, is one of the most influential dancers of recent generations

After his farewell from the stage in 2007 in front of a crowd in Buenos Aires, he directed his career towards artistic direction and cultural management. He will now come to Málaga to receive the first award of the Soho International Dance Festival, named the Premio Lux Ductor, translated as "guiding light," and it will be presented on April 16th at the Soho stage.

The festival's program also includes auditions for young talents, meetings with dance figures, and workshops open to the public, featuring performances by Bavarian Junior Ballet, Käfig, and Lucía Lacarra Ballet, in addition to 'Les Saisons', one of the latest works by French choreographer Thierry Malandain.

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Lacarra herself visited the Ángel Pericet Higher Conservatory of Dance this Tuesday, led by Lola Moreno, where she taught a master class. Over a hundred students worked with her at the barre, the starting point of any session, in a gesture that anticipates one of the festival's most ambitious initiatives: transforming the center of Málaga into a large collective barre where more than three hundred people, already registered, will dance in unison. This will take place on April 12th, a day after the festival begins, which will last for a week.