PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Zenaida Alcalde
Zenaida Alcalde
Born	1981 (age 42–43); Madrid, Spain
Education	Carampa Circus School [es]
Occupation(s)	Circus performer, trapeze artist, actress, teacher
Website	Puntocero Company

Zenaida Alcalde (born 1981) is a Spanish circus performer, trapeze artist, actress, and teacher.

Biography

Alcalde was born in Madrid in 1981.^[1] She began her artistic career studying theater. Later, she learned about circus arts and began training at the Carampa Circus School [es] in Madrid. She moved to London, where she lived for eight years, and studied at The Circus Space.^[1]^[2]

In 2008, together with fellow circus performer and magician Miguel Muñoz Segura [es], Alcalde founded Puntocero Company, a group that performs shows mixing theater, circus, and magic.^[3] She also directed and acted in the shows Trece, Choices, and Fragmentada. Abroad, she has worked with DV8 Physical Theatre, Nofit State Circus, and the Tattoo Theater.^[4]^[5]

Since 2009, she has taught aerial techniques at the Carampa Circus School, and since 2014, in the Visual Arts and Dance program at King Juan Carlos University.^[3]

As part of the 2018–2019 Spanish-Colombian Foco Cultura agreement, promoted by Acción Cultural Española [es], Alcalde won a residency for circus professionals, with the objective of sharing her work methods and developing a process of collaboration and mutual training with the Transeúnte Theater Scenic Collective in Pasto, Colombia.^[6]

In 2019, Alcalde appeared in the Disney film Dumbo, playing Catherine the Greater, alongside Muñoz and actors such as Colin Farrell and Danny DeVito.^[1]^[2]

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the demolition of the old Circo Price in Plaza del Rey [es] in 1970, Teatro Circo Price in Ronda de Atocha presented the show Mil Novecientos Setenta Sombreros from 14 October to 1 November 2020. This was a circus and theater production with dramaturgy by Aránzazu Riosalido and Pepe Viyuela, under the direction of Hernán Gené [es], and in which Alcalde performed the trapeze numbers.^[7]

Her shows have been performed on various stages, as well as at circus and theater festivals and fairs, such as the London International Mime Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.^[5]^[8] She has also been the aerial choreographer of productions such as Rebe al Rebés and Sin miedo.^[9]

In May 2023, Alcalde was one of the four circus directors invited to participate, with the short piece Extraña devoción, in the project Humanidad (Cinco visiones de Goya para circo), a production of the Teatro Circo Price, inspired by Francisco Goya's The Disasters of War.^[10]

Awards and recognition

In 2017, for Alcalde's show ¿Y ahora qué?, which combines acrobatics, humor, and poetry, Puntocero Company received the Audience Award at the 11th edition of the Ávila International Festival of New Languages (Artescena), chosen from among six works.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Muela, Daniel (12 February 2019). "'Hoy en día no es más seguro estudiar una ingeniería que dedicarte al circo'" ["Today it is not safer to study engineering than to dedicate yourself to the circus"]. El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b Escandón, Pelayo (12 June 2019). "Magia y acrobacias madrileñas en 'Dumbo'" [Madrid Magic and Acrobatics in "Dumbo"] (in Spanish). Artistas Intérpretes, Sociedad de Gestión. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b Villena, Marta (11 August 2020). "Circo, pintura en directo y sabiduría femenina" [Circus, Live Painting and Feminine Wisdom]. El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ Cantón, Miguel (19 August 2021). "Un vodevil a la madrileña en los Veranos de la Villa" [A Madrid-Style Vaudeville Act at the Veranos de la Villa]. El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b Kavanagh, Katharine (16 August 2013). "'Noodles', by NoFitState Circus". The Circus Diaries. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ "Residencia para profesionales del circo en Colombia 2018" [2018 Residency for Circus Professionals in Colombia] (in Spanish). Acción Cultural Española. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ "Mil Novecientos Setenta Sombreros" (in Spanish). Teatro Circo Price. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ "Olmedo celebra la quinta edición de su festival Circolmedo" [Olmedo Celebrates the Fifth Edition of its Circolmedo Festival] (in Spanish). Artezblai. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ "Maintomano y el miedo a salir". El Teatro (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ García Miranda, Marta (19 May 2023). "'Humanidad': un espectáculo Frankenstein sobre la guerra con Susan Sontag y Goya" ['Humanidad': A Frankenstein Show About the War With Susan Sontag and Goya]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ de Miguel, Carlos (9 July 2017). "Irene de Paz y Punto Cero, premios de Artescena". Ávilared (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 August 2023.