R-a-u-x-a is a sophisticated dance piece by Aina Alegre. Born in Vilafranca del Penedès and based in France, the Catalan dancer and choreographer dedicated time to research popular dance in diverse countries and territories, from Peru to the Basque region, where she took an interest in the way in which folk traditions arise out of individual actions and responses. 

For this solo, performed by Alegre, a sense of community is reinterpreted as solitary interaction with surrounding stimulus. Rauxa, meaning ‘rash’ or ‘impulsive’ action in English appears introspective; an unflinching intent to absorb, interpret and communicate. 

Created in November 2020 for NEXT Festival in Belgium, the piece premiered without a public then remained in limbo, as touring was suspended. Eighteen months on, Alegre found that she wanted to channel something intimate and non-intellectual in the piece, which she describes as “hybrid, where the body acts as a medium and a vector of multiple experiences.” 

The result is gripping and uncanny: jarring music (performed live by Josep Tutusaus) and pinpoint lighting (Jan Fedinger) are independent actors, intrusive or manipulative, triggering confident responses or nervy repetitive gestures. The larger narrative shifts are equally intriguing: from technological blue/white lighting and precision movement, to streams of copper smoke billowing out into the audience, where motion is stifled and becomes uneasy. 

“I was interested in what triggers us in terms of external information and internal desires,” says Alegre, “in the environment, both natural and artificial; in the rain, the pulsations of the earth, in the throb of club lighting or electronic music.”