Biography
La Fura dels Baus is a Catalan theatrical group founded in 1979 in Barcelona, known for their urban theatre, use of unusual settings and blurring of the boundaries between audience and actor. "La Fura dels Baus" in Catalan means "The ferret from Els Baus". (Els Baus is a toponym from two of the founders birthplace, Moià).
La Fura dels Baus was founded in 1979. Since the early 1990s, it has diversified its creative efforts, moving into the fields of written drama, digital theatre and street theatre, performing contemporary theatre and opera, and producing major corporate events. La Fura produced the opening ceremony for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, which was broadcast and watched live by more than 500 million viewers. Since this first large show, companies such as Pepsi, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Swatch, Airtel, Microsoft, Absolut Vodka, Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros, the Port of Barcelona, Telecom Italia and Sun Microsystems have commissioned it to produce large promotional shows for them around the world.
From 2000 to 2010, La Fura dels Baus performed street theatre, evolving towards a concept of theatre that combines a wide range of stage resources, based on the classical idea of an all-round show. The main contribution of La Fura was to approach its shows by encouraging the audience to take an active part in areas traditionally reserved for the public, and adapting its stage work to the architectural characteristics of the spaces in which each performance takes place. This blend of techniques and disciplines came to be known as llenguatge furer ("Furan language"), a term that has also been used to describe the work of other theatre companies.
The particular concept of shows designed by La Fura dels Baus is seen in its large scale performances such as: L’home del mil.leni (2000), to celebrate the new millennium, which drew an audience of more than 20,000 in Barcelona; the Divine Comedy, performed in Florence in front of more than 35,000 spectators; La Navaja en el Ojo, which opened the Biennial of Valencia, and which attracted an audience of more than 20,000; and Naumaquia 1 – Tetralogía Anfíbia – El Juego Eterno, which drew an audience of more than 15,000 spectators at the Forum de les Cultures in Barcelona.
A number of courses and workshops have trained actors in the "Furan language". Accions (1984) was the first show to use it, followed by Suz/O/Suz (1985), Tier Mon (1988), Noun (1990), MTM (1994), Manes (1996), ØBS (2000), Matria 1 – Tetralogía Anfíbia – La Creación (2004) and OBIT (2004). The company has made use of new technologies, for example in Work in Progress 97, an on-line show that put on simultaneous performances in different cities in a digital theatre environment.
In 2011 La Fura attracted controversy for performing for the 35th birthday party of the Chechen dictator, Ramzan Kadyrov.
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