Luz Arcas brings ‘Tierras raras’ to Málaga: a dance work exploring the body, matter and technology

Luz Arcas returns to her home city with a work that looks beneath the surface of the earth to reflect on the world we live in today. The Málaga-born dancer and choreographer will present Tierras raras at Teatro Cervantes on Wednesday 21 October at 8:00 pm.

Created with her company La Phármaco, the piece forms part of the Danza Málaga 2026 programme and explores the relationship between the human body, the transformation of matter and the materials that underpin much of today’s technological society.

Its title refers directly to rare earth elements, a group of materials that play a vital role in many electronic devices and technological developments.

But Arcas uses that scientific reference as the starting point for a much broader reflection.

On stage, the earth becomes a place of memory, transformation, destruction and renewal.

Looking underground to understand the present

Tierras raras begins with a powerful idea: the earth’s crust as a place where traces of the past coexist with the materials used to build the future.

Beneath the ground lie bodies, objects, ruins and vanished cities.

But it is also where minerals are extracted to manufacture mobile phones, batteries, screens, electronic systems and many of the technologies that shape everyday life.

The work uses this contradiction as one of its central themes.

The same earth that preserves the remains of what has disappeared also provides the raw materials needed to construct the technological world of the present.

The body as matter in constant transformation

Transformation lies at the heart of the performance.

Luz Arcas approaches the body not as something fixed, but as matter that is constantly changing.

Movement, voice, sound and space all form part of that investigation.

The work considers what happens when familiar forms begin to break down and what may remain when matter takes on a new configuration.

Dance becomes a way of exploring ideas that extend far beyond the body itself.

From alchemy to the technology industry

The creative process behind Tierras raras moved through apparently distant fields.

According to the artist’s own notes about the work, the research passed through historical spiritualism, alchemy and the technology industry.

What connects them is the idea of transformation.

Alchemy pursued the possibility of converting one form of matter into another. Spiritualism questioned what might remain after physical disappearance. Modern industry, meanwhile, transforms minerals extracted from the earth into technologies that influence the way we live.

Arcas brings all these ideas together within the same choreographic universe.

Rare earths as a symbol of our time

Rare earth elements occupy a strategic position in the global economy.

They are used in a wide range of technological sectors and are found in products and systems related to telecommunications, energy, electronics and other industries.

In the performance, however, they also work as a metaphor.

They represent a society that may appear increasingly digital and immaterial, yet still depends heavily on physical resources extracted from the planet.

Technological progress, in other words, remains deeply connected to the earth.

A different sense of time

The piece also brings together contrasting timescales.

On one side is human time: generations, cities, wars, technologies and ways of life that appear and disappear.

On the other is geological time, which moves on a scale almost impossible to perceive through everyday human experience.

The earth contains both.

What may represent centuries of history for people is little more than an instant from a geological perspective.

Tierras raras uses this contrast to place the human body within much larger processes of change.

A La Phármaco creation

The work belongs to La Phármaco, the company founded by Luz Arcas in 2009.

Since then, the project has developed a body of work centred on contemporary dance and research into the body, memory, identity and the relationship between movement and society.

For Tierras raras, Luz Arcas is responsible for artistic direction and choreography.

The dramaturgy is jointly created by Luz Arcas and Pedro G. Romero.

Five dancers on stage

The cast features five performers:

• Luz Arcas
• La Merce
• Danielle Mesquita
• Javiera Paz
• Raquel Sánchez

The vocal and musical dimension also includes Perrate, one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary flamenco.

The combination of movement, body, singing and sound design creates a space where transformation does not happen only through dance.

Sound becomes part of the material

Sound plays a major role in the piece.

The sound design is by Xabier Erkizia, while Perrate contributes through live or recorded vocal expression within the work’s musical world.

Voices are not used simply as accompaniment.

They become part of the same process of transformation that runs throughout the performance.

The result combines the physicality of the dancers with a soundscape that expands the way the stage is perceived.

The visual world of ‘Tierras raras’

The artistic team also includes Jorge Colomer on lighting design and Andrea Otín on costumes.

The stage design is by Victoria Aime, with Natividad Martín as assistant.

The production does not attempt to recreate a mine, laboratory or specific geographical setting in a literal way.

Instead, it creates an open visual landscape that can suggest different ideas about matter, extraction and transformation.

First premiered in Madrid in 2025

Tierras raras is not arriving in Málaga as a world premiere.

The work was first presented on 30 May 2025 as part of the Madrid en Danza festival at Teatros del Canal.

Performances took place on 30 and 31 May, when it was introduced as one of the latest creations by Luz Arcas and La Phármaco.

Since then, the production has continued its journey before now reaching the choreographer’s home city.

An international co-production

The project also has an important international dimension.

Tierras raras is a production by Luz Arcas and La Phármaco, co-produced with Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona and MA Scène Nationale Pays de Montbéliard in France.

The collaboration reflects a career that has taken Arcas’ work well beyond Málaga and Spain.

Her company has performed at numerous venues and festivals linked to contemporary dance.

Luz Arcas, National Dance Award winner

The Cervantes performance comes at an especially significant point in Luz Arcas’ career.

The Málaga-born artist received Spain’s National Dance Award in 2024, one of the country’s most important institutional recognitions in the performing arts.

The award strengthened the profile of a career developed over many years through La Phármaco and marked by continuous research into movement and the body.

Her return to Málaga now gives local audiences the opportunity to discover one of the works developed around this recent stage of her career.

A Málaga artist returning to Teatro Cervantes

The performance carries particular meaning because it takes place in Málaga.

Arcas was born in the city and, although much of her career has unfolded on national and international stages, she has maintained a strong connection with her place of origin.

Presenting Tierras raras at Teatro Cervantes brings one of her latest works directly to her home audience.

The performance forms part of an autumn edition of Danza Málaga bringing together different generations and styles of dance.

Danza Málaga brings different movement languages to the city

The Danza Málaga 2026 programme runs through October and November at Teatro Cervantes and Teatro Echegaray.

Its line-up includes contemporary dance, flamenco, ballet and other stage-based movement disciplines.

Artists featured in this year’s programme include Sara Baras, Farruquito, Pastora Galván, Daniel Doña, Ana Morales and Luz Arcas herself.

Tierras raras represents one of the most experimental and conceptual strands of the programme.

When to see ‘Tierras raras’ in Málaga

The performance will take place on:

Date: Wednesday 21 October 2026
Time: 8:00 pm
Venue: Teatro Cervantes, Málaga
Production: Tierras raras
Company: Luz Arcas / La Phármaco
Genre: contemporary dance
Ticket price: €30

Teatro Cervantes also indicates that its usual discounts and Soy Procultura concessions may apply.

Around 70 minutes without an interval

According to the official Teatro Cervantes listing, the performance lasts approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, with no interval.

The version presented in Madrid also included a warning about the use of strobe lighting, something that may be relevant for certain audience members.

It is worth taking this into account before attending.

A dance work that asks where technology really comes from

One of the most distinctive aspects of Tierras raras is its ability to connect ideas that are usually considered separately.

Technology often appears to belong to an invisible, digital world, yet every device depends on minerals, industrial processes and materials extracted from the earth.

Luz Arcas’ work brings attention back to that physical origin.

The human body belongs to the same material world.

It changes, disappears, leaves traces and becomes part of processes that continue long after individual experience.

Earth, memory and the future on stage

Rather than offering a fixed answer, Tierras raras creates questions.

What remains when a form disappears?

What is the relationship between the ruins of the past and the materials used to manufacture the future?

How far can technological progress really be separated from the earth on which it depends?

Luz Arcas turns these questions into movement and brings them to Teatro Cervantes this October.

The result is one of the most conceptually ambitious contemporary dance productions in Málaga’s autumn cultural programme.